Tournament host Tiger Woods took charge at the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club on Friday with Australian Rod Pampling his nearest challenger. Pampling shot the best round of the day – a six-under-par 64 – to move to nine-under overall, just one shot behind Woods. Compatriot Stuart Appleby posted a solid 69 to remain in the hunt at five-under, while Steve Elkington failed to consolidate his great opening round as he crashed down the leaderboard with a three-over 73. James Nitties is tied with Elkington at two-under, with Aaron Baddeley and Peter Lonard at even-par. March Leishman, John Senden, Nick O&aposHern and Nathan Green all did enough to make the cut, but there was no such joy for Robert Allenby, Jason Day, Mathew Goggin and Aron Price. With big crowds turning out in the Washington DC area at the start of the July 4 holiday weekend, Woods followed Thursday&aposs six-under-par 64, his lowest opening round in two years, with a 66 on the par-70, 7,255-yard Blue Course in Bethesda, Maryland. The five-birdie, one-bogey round took the world No.1 into an early second-round lead at 10-under par and he held on to it after overnight leader Anthony Kim failed to build on his course record, eight-under 62 in the first round. The leader, though, was far from happy with his day&aposs work. “I didn&apost drive the ball as well as I did yesterday or hit my irons as crisp,” Woods said. “Either I hit it pretty close to the hole, within 10 feet, or I was missing greens. So it was a little bit of two ends today.” “It was nice to actually get a score out of it. I didn&apost shoot myself in the foot and had a stretch there from basically 17 through three where I didn&apost really hit the ball all that well but somehow was able to get through it and keep the momentum of the round going.” Kim had got to 10 under after eight holes before three bogeys undermined his good work. A birdie at the 16th, though left him with a level-par 70 to finish two strokes behind Woods in third place. Kim was happy to have remained in the hunt after surviving a tough round. “It was a grind, possibly one of the toughest ball-striking days I&aposve had in a long time, even with all my injuries (this year) and I feel good,” Kim said. “I stayed positive and made a couple of key putts to keep me in it so it&aposs not so bad to be third after a rough day.” Jim Furyk shot a 67 to move into fourth place at seven under with Americans Bryce Molder and DA Points both shooting level 70s and Sweden&aposs Daniel Chopra carding a 68 to take a share of fifth place at six under. US Open champion Lucas Glover followed an opening 69 by matching playing partner Woods with a 66 to take him to five under for the tournament, where newly turned professional Danny Lee of New Zealand was among those joining him following a 67. Meanwhile, Richard Green and Scott Strange are in contention at the halfway mark of the French Open at Le Golf National. Green shot a four-under-par 67 to move to seven-under overall, three shots behind leader Rafa Echenique. Strange had to settle for a 72 and a tie for ninth place. Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington&aposs nightmare run of missed cuts went to five in Paris – just as many as Tiger Woods has failed to make in his entire 13-year professional career. With his Open hat-trick bid less than two weeks away, Harrington&aposs fate was effectively sealed when he drove out of bounds and ran up a triple-bogey eight at the 14th hole of his second round. The Dubliner, who finished with a 75, freely conceded on Wednesday that he was running out of time to get his game in good enough shape to triumph again at Turnberry. Now he has only next week&aposs Irish PGA championship to find a bit of competitive confidence before heading to Scotland. AT & T National Round 2 -10: Tiger Woods 64 66 -9: Rod Pampling (Australia) 67 64 -8: Anthony Kim 62 70 -7: Jim Furyk 66 67 -6: Bryce Molder 64 70, DA Points 64 70, Daniel Chopra 66 68 -5: Stuart Appleby (Australia) 66 69, Lucas Glover 69 66, Danny Lee (New Zealand) 68 67, Ryan Moore 69 66, Cameron Beckman 68 67 -4: Ryan Palmer 69 67, George McNeill 70 66, Davis Love III 69 67, Boo Weekley 67 69, Michael Allen 67 69 -3: Mark Wilson 70 67, Kevin Streelman 70 67, Cliff Kresge 70 67, Scott McCarron 72 65 Also: -2: Steve Elkington (Australia) 65 73, James Nitties (Australia) 71 67 E: Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 72 68, Peter Lonard (Australia) 70 70 +1: Marc Leishman (Australia) 70 71, John Senden (Australia) 71 70, Nick O Hern (Australia) 71 70 +2: Nathan Green (Australia) 71 71 +4: Robert Allenby (Australia) 72 72, Jason Day (Australia) 76 68 +7: Matthew Goggin (Australia) 72 75 +8: Aron Price (Australia) 72 76 Second Round of the French Open -10: Rafa Echenique 65 67 -8: Martin Kaymer 62 72, Charl Schwartzel 68 66, Steve Webster 69 65 -7: Richard Green (Australia) 68 67, Peter Hansen 65 70 -6: Paul Waring 66 70, Lee Westwood 68 68 -5: Seve Benson 70 67, Francesco Molinari 67 70, Scott Strange (Australia) 65 72 -4: Robert-Jan Derksen 67 71, Kenneth Ferrie 70 68 -3: Alejandro Canizares 67 72, Soren Hansen 68 71, Daniel Vancsik 72 67, Danny Willett 68 71 Also: E: Marcus Fraser (Australia) 68 74 +2: Peter O Malley (Australia) 73 71 +4: Brett Rumford (Australia) 70 76 +7: Scott Arnold (Australia) 71 78 +10: Mark Brown (New Zealand) 79 73 +12: Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 75 79, Wade Ormsby (Australia) 72 82