IRVING, Texas – The position atop the leaderboard should be familiar to Tiger Woods. So should the company he’ll be keeping at the Byron Nelson Championship.

Woods sprinkled in a few birdies with some solid par saves for a 3-under 67 on Friday at cool, blustery Cottonwood Valley and took a one-shot lead for the second week in a row. The surprise is who will join him on the first tee Saturday afternoon – 47-year-old Mark O’Meara, his best buddy on tour.

Instead of a practice round at a major championship or a casual round at Isleworth when they’re home in Florida, they will be in the final group of a $5.8 million tournament that means something to both for different reasons.

Woods, the No. 1 player in the world, has come under severe scrutiny for a game that has produced only one victory this year and no majors in his last seven tries.

“I’ve always felt comfortable when I’ve been in the lead,” Woods said, although he lost the 36-hole lead last week at the Wachovia Championship, ending a five-year streak of winning when he led going into the weekend. O’Meara has not won on the PGA Tour since the 98 British Open and is playing this year on a one-time exemption for being in the top 25 in career money. Even though he won earlier this year in the Dubai Desert Classic – a field that included Woods and Ernie Els – there is no substitute for winning at home.

“It would be huge,” O’Meara said. “The last 2 years, it has been a battle of not playing well, a battle of not putting well, a battle of not being excited about being on the road. It would be a thrill to have a chance to win come Sunday afternoon.”

Woods was at 8-under 132, his best start ever at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship.

Sergio Garcia, who finished third in his PGA Tour debut at the Byron Nelson five years ago, birdied three of his last four holes on the TPC at Las Colinas to salvage a 68 and was in a large group at 134 that included Peter Lonard (70), Jerry Kelly (68) and Jonathan Byrd (67).

Defending champion Vijay Singh also made a nice recovery with birdies on three of his last four holes at Cottonwood Valley. He finished with a 67 and was at 135, only three shots out of the lead.

“I’m feeling good with the putter, which is something new for me,” Singh said.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson had a couple of streaks end – he shot a 2-over 72, ending his run of 21 consecutive rounds at par or better; and at 1-over 141 he missed the cut for the first time this year.

O’Meara’s latest battle has been getting caught in the criticism of Woods. The fervent analysis of Woods’ swing has led some to speculate that O’Meara – and his Dallas-based swing coach, Hank Haney – have had too much influence on Woods’ game. Haney again followed Woods during his second round, and Woods went with Haney to his club (Vaquero) to hit balls after the round.

Ochoa, Hurst share one-stroke lead

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Lorena Ochoa gets a second chance to play as a co-leader.

Ochoa shot a 5-under 67 Friday and shared a one-stroke lead with Pat Hurst in the weather-delayed second round of the Franklin American Mortgage championship.

Play was called because of darkness Friday night with 16 golfers still on the course.

Last week, Ochoa finished tied for second, two strokes behind winner Se Ri Pak despite sharing the third-round lead at the Michelob Ultra Open. The native of Mexico said she learned she must be aggressive instead of cautiously protecting of her lead.

“I need to try and go for it, go straight for the pin and make a lot of birdies out there. Last week, I played a little bit too conservatively in the last round,” said Ochoa, the 2003 rookie of the year who is looking for her first career victory.

“You’ve got to play good yourself and not wait for others to make mistakes, so I just need to be confident with my game and be aggressive.

Ochoa, who had six birdies and a bogey Friday, was at round for a 7-under 137 total that tied her with Hurst who just missed birdie putts on her final two holes to finish with six birdies and two bogeys on a Legends Club course where she won in 2000.

“I feel pretty comfortable out here,” Hurst said. “I feel like I am in good position looking into the weekend.”

First-round leader Nancy Scranton, Dorothy Delasin and Wendy Ward were tied for third at 138.

Scranton lipped out a par putt on her final hole to cap a 72. Delasin closed a 67 by chipping past the pin and then knocking a par putt 4 feet past the hole.

Ward, who had a 70, missed birdie putts of 6, 7 and 12 feet over her final four holes.

Wendy Doolan (70) and Stacy Prammanasudh (72) were at 139.

Golfers struggled with winds that gusted up to 25 mph until heavy rains stopped play for 1 hour, 40 minutes in the late afternoon.

Ochoa started four strokes off the lead and parred her first four holes. She hit 12 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens while needing only 29 putts.

An 8-iron to 10 feet on No. 5 set up her first birdie, and she added three more over the next four holes with her longest putt a 15-footer on the par-4 8th. Her lone bogey came on No. 11 when she hit into the left rough and put a 9-iron over the green and three-putted.

She hit a 51-degree wedge to 3 feet on the par-5 14th for birdie and took the lead on 16 as she hit a 7-iron to 13 feet and made the birdie putt. Ochoa avoided dropping a shot on the par-5 18th despite two shots into the left rough by putting her third shot past the pin.

“It was important for me to catch up … and be in a good position,” she said.

Hurst, whose best finish was a tie for eighth last week, always plays well here. She could have had the lead to herself if not for bogeys on two holes playing into the wind – the par-3 16th and the par-4 2nd.

The second bogey came after she had grabbed a share of the lead with Scranton, and she rebounded on the par-5 7th as she used a 3-wood to the green and two-putted for birdie.

Ward expects a chase to the end with everyone bunched up.

“This is a birdie golf course,” she said. “Conditions like this make it pretty tough, but I would say 16 out of 18 of the holes are birdie holes easily.”

Divots: Aree Song was set to miss the first cut of her rookie season with a 148 total. If she was to become the youngest player to win on the LPGA Tour, she had to win by Friday to beat out Marlene Hagge who was 18 years, 14 days when she won in 1942. Song double-bogeyed No. 18 after hitting into the water twice. … Anna Acker-Macosko finished nine holes and was at 6 over when she withdrew because of illness. … Vanderbilt senior Sara Jacobs, who will be turning pro after the upcoming NCAA tournament, missed the cut after being given a sponsor’s exemption. She finished with a 153 total.

AP-ES-05-14-04 2132EDT