Pebble Beach, Calif. ? Jim Furyk knows the biggest challenge at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am often isn’t the weather or the field — it’s maintaining focus during the typical six-hour rounds.

So this year, Furyk has a secret weapon to survive the long waits on the golfer-choked courses: Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Lynn Swann, one of his boyhood idols and his amateur playing partner.

So far, the plan is working.

Furyk birdied his final three holes for a 6-under-par 66 Friday, moving one stroke atop a leaderboard that’s as crowded as the links.

“You have to be patient,” Furyk said. “I know we haven’t cracked 51¼2 hours yet out there. You just have to be patient, get used to it and set your mind frame. I’m not going to let it bother me.”

First-round leader Kevin Sutherland was among five players sitting one stroke back, with Davis Love III and five-time Pebble Beach champion Mark O’Meara two strokes off the pace. All told, 20 players are within four strokes of Furyk.

Though the weather remained nearly perfect, Furyk’s 7-under 137 after two rounds is the tournament’s highest 36-hole leading score since 1990. Actually, the weather is the culprit: it has confounded most pros’ usual approach to the Monterey Peninsula’s three normally soggy courses.

An intermittent wind kicked up Friday, particularly for the golfers playing Spyglass Hill, but the firm, dry fairways and greens forced big adjustments for every competitor.

“It’s just been different,” said Furyk, who matched Tim Clark for the best round of the day. “I’ve never seen the golf courses this way in a lot of years playing here.

“I never realized how much slope there is on some of these greens. I’ve played here a lot when the greens were very wet, and they’re usually slow. Not this year.”

Jim Furyk tees off on the ninth hole during his round of 6-under-par 66 at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Furyk finished with a two-day total of 7 under par Friday and will take a one-stroke lead into today's play.

But an impressive round at Poppy Hills was nothing for Furyk compared to his trip behind the Steel Curtain this weekend.

Furyk grew up in Pennsylvania as a huge Steelers fan, and he still holds season tickets in Pittsburgh. He arranged his pairing with Swann several months ago — and he fought off the urge to talk about Super Bowl triumphs instead of pars and divots.

“I wanted to be his partner if he was going to play,” Furyk said. “I figure on my days off, I don’t want to talk about golf, so I haven’t quizzed him too much. I could probably bore him to death for hours.”

Tiger Woods isn’t scheduled to return from knee surgery until next week when he plays at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, but there’s no shortage of competition at the pro-am. Except for Tom Lehman, Furyk’s closest competitors aren’t big names, with 11 combined victories among the five: Paul Stankowski, Tim Herron and Rod Pampling joined Lehman and Sutherland at 6 under.