ARDMORE, PA. – Their toil over, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy shook hands and hung together on the green, both survivors.
Not quite a 1-2 punch, but good enough
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were in the thick of it after shooting even par.
By Mike Jensen Philadelphia Inquirer

Across Merion's 10th green, their playing partner, Adam Scott, wasn't done yet. He had a putt to make.
And he missed it.
That kind of afternoon for the world's third-ranked player, and much of the U.S. Open field. But No. 1 and 2 walked off together to sign their cards, sharing some words and a few laughs, neither complaining about getting away from the second round of the Open at 3 over par.
"Long day, and I'm hungry," Woods said after going even par over 25 holes, completing his first round and also shooting an even-par 70 in the second round.
McIlroy matched Woods' 70. "I'm very happy," McIlroy said. "Right in there for the weekend. I don't think I'll be too far away by the end of the day."
Scott had begun the day at 3 under, six strokes ahead of Woods, but the Masters champion managed three bogeys and a double in his morning seven holes, then shot 75 in the afternoon, putting him at 7 over. Getting overaggressive, Scott hit one ball out of bounds on the 15th and almost hit a second, except it settled in the rough a foot inbounds.
All day, Woods showed a fuller understanding of how to attack Merion. He didn't attack it. A number of times, Woods was behind his playing partners, hitting irons off tees while they chose hybrids or 3-woods. He was willing to hit longer irons into greens, understanding he would more likely be putting from 20-30 feet than from inside 10 feet.
"They've really tried to protect the golf course, with it being as soft as it is," Woods said. "And they've given us some really, really tough pins."
It's unclear how much Woods is affected by pain in his left wrist. He shook it a couple of times Thursday after shots from the rough, and also let his left arm fly off the club a couple of times late Friday after slightly wayward shots.
Woods did say for the first time that he'd hurt the wrist at the Players Championship last month, offering no detail. Asked after his first round what he had felt, Woods said, "Pain. But it is what it is and you move on."
Woods and McIlroy are friendly but their conversations clearly weren't about Woods' wrist.
"I haven't seen anything wrong with him," McIlroy said.
It was a weird scoring day for McIlroy. He drained a 23-footer for a rare birdie on the 256-yard, par-3 third, then bogeyed the birdie-able par-5 fourth after he sprayed his drive right and played his second shot down the adjacent eighth hole. The game plan worked, but his approach found the front bunker.
His scorecard still added up to 70, with four birdies and four bogeys.
"You'd have to go 12 rounds with it," McIlroy said of Merion.
about the writer
Mike Jensen Philadelphia Inquirer
Frankie Capan III, who will be playing on the PGA Tour next year, finished at 13 under par at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.