Stuart Appleby of Australia goes into the weekend at Torrey Pines with a one-shot lead.(Pensinger/Getty Images)

So when he had a captive audience -- and the subject of everyone's attentions was standing in the wings -- Stuart Appleby just couldn't resist.

The Aussie was talking about the challenges of playing against -- and with -- the aforementioned Tiger Woods. He mentioned the distractions, the crowds, the noise, when the game's No. 1 player is on the prowl.

"So getting in your own world is harder to do," Appleby explained. "... It's just a matter of playing golf. He wants to play golf, we want to play golf.

"And I'll be doing my best to accidentally throw a club towards his sore knee.''

He laughed. Tiger laughed. Everyone laughed.

"It would be an accident, '' he grinned, "of course.''

Of course.

Yes, Appleby was kidding. He was in a great mood. And why not? He's headed into the weekend with a one-shot lead in the U.S. Open -- a tournament he almost never plays well -- with Tiger one back along with Rocco Mediate and Robert Karlsson. And the world within 10 shots.

Not that Appleby hasn't been here before in a major. He was in that four-way playoff at the Open Championship at Muirfield in 2002 -- the one Ernie Els won. He tied for fourth at the 2002 PGA and seventh at the 2007 Masters.

But the U.S. Open? He's usually one of those shooting in the upper 70s and missing the cut. Just like he's done in seven of the last 11 U.S. national championships.

Yet he's topping the leaderboard here at Torrey Pines after an opening 69, which he followed with a 70. And Friday's round included a bounce-back from an opening bogey. He didn't want that missed 6-footer to set the tone for his day.

"Tiger's a good example of certainly not giving up,'' Appleby said. "And my start was pretty cold and heartless on after the first hole, it made it very, very difficult day there. But hanging in there is what you got to do.

"I think that is sometimes the fight -- putting the fight back to yourself. And obviously, (on) the golf course, that's what you got to do at times. I think that ... morally gives you a victory even within yourself."

Appleby started at 2 under and didn't get back there until the seventh hole when he hit 6-iron to 15 feet. A 15-footer from the fringe at No. 9 got him to 3 under for the tournament, then he bogeyed the 11th and 12th holes.

He finished his round off with a birdie at No. 18 -- from 45 feet, no less -- that gave him a one-shot lead and knocked all those players at 8-over out of the tournament because of the 10-shot rule. Appleby estimated the uphill putt had 3 to 5 feet of break.

"(I) just thought, it's late in the day, these putts are getting a bit slower; (I've) got my line right, (so) just really release it," he recalled. "Just hit it. Don't hit it too hard, you know. Typical stuff when you're at 50 feet. You try to just, I guess, use your natural feel. And I hit it, and I thought, well, that looks up. It doesn't look long, because it doesn't have that feeling off the putter.

"And then ... probably a couple seconds out, I thought, well, this could go in, and then the crowd does their thing, and it sort of all adds to what looks like a good putt.''

And the lead.

Appleby, who hasn't won since he did it twice in 2006, started the year with a run of five top-10 finishes and tied for 14th at the Masters. He's missed just two cuts.

The Aussie is a player who's got a dangerous game and can go low. He has a penchant for racking up top 10s -- and appearances on major championship leaderboards.

Now he's positioned himself as the man to beat going into the weekend at this 108th U.S. Open.

Someone asked if he's found a major comfort zone yet. Appleby shook his head.

"Majors are not a comfortable zone,'' he said. "... They're not supposed to be comfortable. That's sort of why there's only four of them a year, and they're always on testing golf courses.

"Do I think that I am more comfortable? Yeah, I guess I might be. I think as you get older, you've got to find a way to be more comfortable in positions (that are) always trying to put you off balance. ... For sure, in a U.S. Open.

"There's a lot of mental skill, too. And that's probably the one that you're trying to control the most. And being that you're trying to hit every fairway, being that you're trying to hit every green, being that you're trying to hole every putt out and do everything right, it just is not conducive out here to (be comfortable).''

So, he said, it's simple.

"I guess effectively by trying to gain control out here, you've got to let go of control,'' he said. "And ... that's ... not a natural thing to do; that's why it's so difficult."

But if this week is any indication, it's getting easier for Appleby.