Kuchar, though ill, shares lead at Cog Hill

Matt Kuchar was feeling terrible and playing even worse. He managed to hold himself together long enough Friday to salvage a 1-over-par 72 for a share of the lead with Charlie Wi after two rounds of the BMW Championship in Lemont, Ill.

Kuchar made four bogeys through eight holes to tumble down the leader board, then rallied with five birdies in his last 10 holes to catch Wi, who played in the morning and shot 69.

They are at 6-under 136 with a one-shot lead over Marc Leishman, whose 65 was the best of the day on a Cog Hill course that received criticism because of its recent makeover combined with inconsistent greens.

Tiger Woods, the defending champion and a five-time winner at Cog Hill, was resigned to the fact that the greens were not pure.

He didn't make very many putts, threw in a double bogey for the second straight day and shot 72, leaving him in a tie for 40th, nine shots behind. "I made nothing today," he said. "I hit the ball a hell of a lot better than my score indicates."

Woods now ranks No. 51 in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to finish around fifth at Cog Hill to qualify for the Tour Championship in two weeks.

Kuchar already has reservations at East Lake. He is No. 1 in the standings having won the playoff opener, and it doesn't hurt that he's tied for the lead going into this weekend. The FedEx winner gets a $10-million bonus.

But Kuchar is hurting. At first he thought he had laryngitis, but now he isn't sure whether he has a viral or bacterial infection. All he knows is that he barely had enough strength to stay upright in warm afternoon temperatures.

"I was as weak as I could be," Kuchar said. "I tried for the four or five seconds over the ball to flip the switch on and really give it what I had, and go back to walking around without a whole lot of energy . . . I knew that some good things would happen if I could just kind of hang in there the best I could."

Phil Mickelson, who shot 71 and was at 1-over 143, has done little to hide his disdain of the Rees Jones makeover, and at one point Friday, suggested that "I'm not good enough to play this course."

Because NBC Sports has an obligation to Notre Dame football, the leaders will tee off Saturday at 9:15 a.m.

Three seniors tied in Korea

Fred Funk, Michael Allen and Jay Don Blake shot 3-under 69s to share the first-round lead in the Songdo Championship in Incheon, South Korea, the Champions Tour's first tournament in Asia.

Pressel leads; Wie two back

Morgan Pressel shot 5-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA's NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark.

Yani Tseng, Gloria Park and Na Yeon Choi opened with 67s. Michelle Wie, coming off a victory in the Canadian Women's Open, was another stroke back.

- AP