Kelly, Sutherland share TPC lead

Woods survives cut but trails by nine entering third round

? Tiger Woods needed only three holes to take the suspense out of making his 120th consecutive cut Friday at The Players Championship.

He’ll need all 36 holes the final two days to catch up to Kevin Sutherland and Jerry Kelly.

Sutherland holed an 80-foot bunker shot on his way to a 3-under 69 for his first 36-hole lead in eight years. Kelly joined him with a 66, a mixture of short birdie putts and a scrappy short game on the TPC at Sawgrass.

They were at 9-under 135, facing a tough test on the weekend and a leaderboard littered with big names.

Ernie Els (69) and Adam Scott (72) were two shots back. Vijay Singh (68) and Padraig Harrington (70) were right behind them. Phil Mickelson (69) made par despite driving into the water on No. 18 and was only four shots off the lead.

The best news for Woods is that his 69 was good enough for a tee time today.

Woods went up 64 spots into a tie for 44th, but wasn’t entirely pleased. He never gained another shot on the lead the rest of the round, and wound up at even-par 144. The cut was at 146, so Woods had two shots to spare.

Former Kansas University golfer Matt Gogel shot a second-round 71 and was at 1-under 143, eight shots off the lead.