June 17, 2007	Sunday	Jumadi-us-Sani 01, 1428

OAKMONT (Pennsylvania), June 16: Long-hitting Angel Cabrera of Argentina knocked in a short birdie putt on his last hole on Friday to claim a one-shot lead after the second round of the US Open on the fast-running Oakmont course.

Cabrera, who began his round from the 10th tee, capped off a challenging day on the treacherous layout with his two-foot birdie at the ninth to register a one-over-par 71 and reach the halfway mark at even-par 140.

One stroke back was another big hitter, American Bubba Watson. The 28-year-old Watson, who leads the US Tour in driving, also posted a 71 for his 141 total.

Watson, who missed the cut in his only previous US Open in 2004, said would try to stay relaxed and play his game.

Two shots off the pace were Briton Justin Rose, Sweden's Niclas Fasth, Australian Aaron Baddeley and Stephen Ames of Canada, whose 69 was one of two sub-par scores on Friday.

Briton Paul Casey fired a four-under-par 66 to vault into contention at three-over 143, moving up 97 places on the jammed leaderboard after his opening 77.

World No 1 Tiger Woods was within range at 145 after grinding his way to a 74, while defending champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia posted a 75 for 146.

Cabrera, who tied for seventh at the 2001 U.S. Open, has been known to rise at the big event. He has won three European Tour titles, including the European PGA Championship in 2005.

He also tied for fifth in last month's PGA at Wentworth.

Sixty-three players made the cut, which was set at 10-over-par 150.

The birdie putt by Cabrera eliminated 19 players who would have qualified, including world No 2 Phil Mickelson, who had been poised to qualify by being within 10 of the lead after his 77 Friday left him with an 11-over-par 151 total.

The result ended Mickelson's streak of making cuts at the major championships at 30 in what had been the longest current streak among the players.

Completed second-round scores on Friday:

140 – Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69, 71.

141 – Bubba Watson (US) 70, 71.

142 – Stephen Ames (Canada) 73, 69; Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 72, 70; Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 71, 71; Justin Rose (Britain) 71, 71.

143 – Paul Casey (Britain) 77, 66.

144 – Tom Pernice Jr (US) 72, 72; Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 72, 72; Brandt Snedeker (US) 71, 73; David Toms (US) 72, 72; Scott Verplank (US) 73, 71.

145 – Chad Campbell (US) 73, 72; Nick Dougherty (Britain) 68, 77; Peter Hanson (Sweden) 71, 74; Jerry Kelly (US) 74, 71; Graeme McDowell (Britain) 73, 72; Tiger Woods (US) 71, 74.

146 – Stuart Appleby (Australia) 74, 72; Olin Browne (US) 71, 75; Jason Dufner (US) 71, 75; Jim Furyk (US) 71, 75; Lee Janzen (US) 73, 73; Shingo Katayama (Japan) 72, 74; Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 71, 75; Mike Weir (Canada) 74, 72.

147 – Anthony Kim (US) 74, 73; Hunter Mahan (US) 73, 74; Pablo Martin (Spain) 71, 76; Michael Putnam (US) 73, 74; Boo Weekley (US) 72, 75; Lee Westwood (Britain) 72, 75.

148 – Jeff Brehaut (US) 73, 75; D.J. Brigman (US) 74, 74; Tim Clark (South Africa) 72, 76; Ben Curtis (US) 71, 77; Harrison Frazar (US) 74, 74; George McNeill (US) 72, 76; Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70, 78; Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 75, 73; Vijay Singh (Fiji) 71, 77; Steve Stricker (US) 75, 73.

149 – Chris DiMarco (US) 76, 73; Ken Duke (US) 74, 75; Ernie Els (South Africa) 73, 76; Fred Funk (US) 71, 78; J.J. Henry (US) 71, 78; Charles Howell III (US) 76, 73; Ian Poulter (Britain) 72, 77; John Rollins (US) 75, 74.

150 – Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 73, 77; Bob Estes (US) 75, 75; Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 74, 76; Marcus Fraser (Australia) 72, 78; Mathew Goggin (Australia) 77, 73; Anders Hansen (Denmark) 71, 79; Zach Johnson (US) 76, 74; Nick O'Hern (Australia) 76, 74; Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 73, 77; Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 75, 75; Kevin Sutherland (US) 74, 76; Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 73, 77; Dean Wilson (US) 76, 74.—Reuters