Johnson takes a two-shot lead as Tiger treads water

Dustin Johnson took a two-shot lead in round two of the U.S. Open as Tiger Woods was two strokes outside the early projected cut line on Friday.

Overnight co-leader Johnson picked up two strokes on his first nine at a sodden Shinnecock Hills to go to three under for the outright lead as the group made the turn.

After a frustrating eight-over 78 on a blustery first day, the world number one's playing partner Woods was even par through his first nine.

The early starters were met with a cool breeze - not the all-out winds that buffeted the players on Thursday - and rain that actually improved scoring conditions through the early part of their round on Long Island.

Woods began with an encouraging birdie at the 404-yard, par-four 10th.

He gave the shot back at the par-four 14th hole but went to red numbers on the day with a nifty wedge to five feet and a putt for birdie on the 16th.

A dicey eight-footer at 18 left the 14-time major winner even par, two shots outside the very early projected cut line of six over.

Woods was aided by a lucky a break at his ninth when his drive, headed for the tall fescue, hit a spotter and dropped into the second cut, giving him the chance to salvage par.

Johnson went to three under as he rolled in a birdie putt from inside 10 feet on the 153-yard, par-three 11th and then matched Woods' birdie on 16.

Justin Thomas, the third member of the marquee group, was one under for the day and sat at three-over par as the threesome made the turn.

Russell Henley, who shared the lead with Johnson, also started at the 10th and went one under on his first nine to sit a shot back of Johnson.

Henley suffered disaster on Shinnecock's toughest hole, the par-four, 499-yard third. He found the long fescue left off the tee, took two shots to get out and ended up taking a triple-bogey seven that sent him down the leaderboard.