Gary Woodland hits the long ball, and makes putts, to take U.S. Open lead
Sports // Golf
By Ron Kroichick June 15, 2019 Updated: June 15, 2019 12:50 a.m.
Gary Woodland hits the long ball, and makes putts, to...
1of3PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Gary Woodland of the United States reacts after a birdie on the fifth hole during the second round of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 14, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)Photo: Andrew Redington / Getty Images
2of3PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Gary Woodland of the United States plays his shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 14, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)Photo: Andrew Redington / Getty Images
3of3PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 14: Gary Woodland of the United States plays a second shot on the ninth hole during the second round of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 14, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)Photo: Warren Little / Getty Images
PEBBLE BEACH — Gary Woodland, like many PGA Tour pros, carries a reputation. He is known mostly as a superb athlete who played college basketball for one year, at Washburn University in Kansas, and launches his tee shots into orbit.
He's not known for doing much at major championships.
But Woodland took a step toward erasing this image Friday at Pebble Beach. He shot a bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 in the second round of the U.S. Open, including 31 on his second nine, to surge into sole possession of the lead.
Woodland will begin Saturday's third round at 9-under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Justin Rose. And, finally, Woodland feels prepared for the intensity of contending on the weekend at a major.
He played alongside Tiger Woods in the final round of last year's PGA Championship in St. Louis, where Woods shot 64 and made a run at eventual winner Brooks Koepka. Woodland learned something that day.
"You can't get caught up in what's going on around you," he said. "Obviously there's a lot more noise playing with Tiger on Sunday. I'd never seen anything like that, never been in that atmosphere — and I played in a basketball arena with 16,300 people right on top of you when I played against KU."
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Woodland averaged six points per game as a freshman at Washburn, a Division II school, in 2002-03. Then he transferred to Kansas and focused on golf.
Woodland, a 35-year-old with three PGA Tour wins, had made 30 career starts in majors before this week. He didn't finish in the top 10 in any of the first 27; then he tied for sixth in last year's PGA Championship and tied for eighth in last month's PGA.
He clearly found his groove the past two days at Pebble. Woodland made 10 birdies and only one bogey (Thursday at No. 9), a performance laying waste to suggestions he's a one-dimensional power hitter.
Woodland leads the field in scrambling and ranks in the top 20 in four other categories: driving distance, driving accuracy, greens in regulation and putts per hole.
Asked about the difference in his play in recent majors, he said, "My short game has come around. I've always been a pretty good ball-striker; I've relied on my ball-striking my whole career, and my athletic ability.
"But the short game and putting has kind of held me back. At the PGA last year I made a lot of putts, especially early in the week. Obviously, it was nice to finish in the top 10 and get that monkey off my back."
Bay Area fans also might remember Woodland for his strong performance in the Match Play Championship at Harding Park in May 2015. He advanced to the finals before losing to Rory McIlroy.
Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick
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