Tiger Woods clawed his way 18 points up the leaderboard Friday.(Gross/Getty Images)

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The fans were raucous; part golf gallery, part rock concert crowd. They climbed up trees, they made plenty of noise and they followed this week's Supergroup like the bulls at Pamplona, stampeding to holes with the kind of gusto normally reserved for Marines.

But late in the day Friday, one man got serious. Dead-aim serious. After all the hype, all the fun spinning off from the pairing of the world's top three players, Tiger Woods found his game face and got down to business. Result? A five-birdie, no-bogey 30 on his final nine holes Friday, his best nine-hole stretch at a major in 10 years.

That's serious.

Woods knows what it takes to win a major championship. Heck, he's won 13 of them. Everyone gave him a pass after Thursday's 1-over 72. It's the surgically repaired left knee, we said. Cut him some slack, he hasn't played in two months, we reasoned.

However, Tiger didn't become Tiger by making excuses. His mind and his will are tougher than trigonometry, as he demonstrated by shooting a 3-under 68 on Friday that left him at 2 under, tied for second going into the weekend.

"I actually just kept patient," Woods explained -- and all this time we thought Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson was the Zen Master. "I was trying to get back to even par for the tournament. ... All of a sudden (putts) started flying in from everywhere."

And if he keeps it up? Well, that doesn't bode well for the rest of the field.

Woods, along with Rocco Mediate and Robert Karlsson, is one shot behind tournament leader Stuart Appleby. The Australian has been near the top in majors before but has never closed the deal.

But this weekend should be a breeze for Apples. After all, Woods has never won a U.S. Open without having the 36-hole lead. Then again, until now he's never played a major on a course where he's won six times as a professional either.

Breathe, Stuey, breathe. It'll be no sweat.

"Majors are not a comfortable zone," Appleby said. "They're not comfortable. 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."

Ah, the testing course. How about it? Well, for the first time since Pinehurst in 2005, we have at least five players under par after 36 holes. Shockingly, Torrey Pines played easier on Friday than on Thursday by nearly a half stroke. U.S. Open courses tend to toughen up as the week wears on, biting instead of growling as the situation intensifies.

The USGA doesn't seem as determined to put quite the "premium on par" as it has in Opens past. Birdies have been OK at Torrey Pines and there have even been nine eagles this week. Three of those eagles have come on No. 18, which means you can only imagine the drama that could unfold late on Sunday afternoon.

As it stands, there are eight players on the friendly side of par through two rounds. Regardless of what you think and what Friday's scores suggested, it won't be a walk in the park this weekend. Or walk on the beach, if you prefer, since we're on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

"It's a U.S. Open, whether you're playing Torrey Pines or the Buick, this golf course is getting fast and hard and dried out," Woods said. "Some of these greens are getting really firm... You have to be so patient out there.

"It's still playing like a U.S. Open."

It absolutely is. And an exciting one too.

That's what happens when Tiger gets down to business.