Good drives were the key to birdies at the opening holes for Woods.

"Let's get something going," he said to no one in particular as he walked to the first tee at Medinah No. 3.

It didn't take long for the statement to ring true. Woods opened with three consecutive birdies on his way to shooting a 5-under 67. He is alone in third, two shots behind Jay Haas and one in back of Mike Weir. Once again, he's in position to make a run at adding another major to his 1997 Masters title.

"It was basically the start I wanted to get off to and I got myself right back there in contention after two rounds, only two back," Woods said. "And that's right where you want to be."

Medinah gives a player opportunity to score during the front nine, especially at Nos. 1, 2 and 3. It was important for Woods to take advantage Friday, especially given his 1-over performance on those three holes during the opening round.

"It wasn't necessarily a statement, but I think it's a fact that I wanted to get off to that positive start," Woods said. "(Thursday) I was 1-over through that stretch and I didn't feel very happy about being that position because the way I looked at it on the leaderboard, the guys were going kind of low. You could see Jay Haas playing really well at the time. I saw him at 8-under. That made it a ballgame.

"I said I needed to keep pace somehow and not let him get too far away. And that meant I had to get off to a good start. I had three great iron shots there, buried the putts and moved on."

The stretch started with a wedge approach to within a foot at No. 1, the 388-yard par-4. On the 188-yard par-3 second, Woods hit a 7-iron to within 3 feet of the hole and the chase was on. At No. 3, the 415-yard par-4, he hit 2-iron off the tee and 7-iron to 15 feet and drained the putt to move to 5-under, a start that clearly caught the attention of everyone thanks to the roars heard throughout the grounds.

"In order to get off to a good start, you have to hit good shots, and today I drove the ball beautifully," Woods said. "I hit it in the middle of the first fairway, the third fairway and hit solid iron shots to give myself legitimate chances. One of them was a kick-in, two of them I had to concentrate on.

"But that's what you need to do. You need to hit good, solid shots and not leave yourself precarious up-and-downs."

With two rounds remaining in the final major of the century, does anyone really believe the focus is going to be on Haas or Weir? Yeah, sure. Woods, at buddy Michael Jordan's home club, will have the spotlight shining brightly toward him again. He's been close in the other majors this year, especially at the two Opens (T-3 at Pinehurst; T-7 at Carnoustie). Will he breakthrough again in Chicago, where he has had PGA Tour success with Western Open wins in 1997 and earlier this summer?

"Well, you know, the key is to keep giving yourself chances, and I've done that this year," he said. "I've won my share of tournaments (three in the U.S., one in Europe), so I've capitalized on my opportunities. But you're not going to win every time, which I've proven. I've been right there and haven't won.