Rory Sabbatini blasts out of a sand trap during the second round of the Bridgestone Invitational. Sabbatini shot a 3-under-par 67 on Friday in Akron, Ohio.

Akron, Ohio ? Rory Sabbatini is taking all bets that par golf on the weekend at Firestone will pay him $1.35 million.

Sabbatini continued to make a difficult golf course look like a breeze Friday, running off three straight birdies toward the end of his round for another 3-under 67 and a two-shot lead over Masters champion Zach Johnson in the Bridgestone Invitational.

What appeared to be a tuneup for the final major of the season next week at the PGA Championship is starting to look like it might be an even tougher test. Sabbatini was at 6-under 134, with only seven other players able to break par.

Five-time champion Tiger Woods was one of them after an even-par 70 in which he had no complaints until reaching the green. He made only two birdies despite hitting 15 greens in regulation, and those were wiped out by a pair of three-putts from about 35 feet in which he left the first putt some eight feet short of the hole.

“They looked fast, but for some reason they putted a little bit slower than I thought they did (Thursday),” Woods said. “I just had a hard time making the adjustment.”

He was at 138 along with Scott Verplank (68) and Kenny Perry, who had his second straight 69.

Someone asked Sabbatini if two more rounds at 67 would be good enough to win, and the South African was almost speechless.

“On the weekend?” he said. “I’d take that with that $1.35 million in a heartbeat. If I shoot 12 under, I’m winning. There’s no doubt in my mind. The way I look at it, I’d take even money right now shooting even par on the weekend. The course is only going to get tougher.”

Johnson and Davis Love III had the best rounds of the tournament at 65, proving that it could be done. Love wound up in the group at 139 that included Lee Westwood and Chris DiMarco.

Paul Casey and Hunter Mahan, who shared the first-round lead with Sabbatini, both sputtered. Mahan didn’t make a birdie until the final hole in his round of 73, while Casey got hung up in the rough on the 18th on his way to a double bogey to also shoot 73. They were at 140.