The trio are on two under par, one clear of KJ Choi and Mark Hensby, the only other players in red numbers.

On level par are Lee Westwood, Michael Campbell, Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh - six better than Phil Mickelson, and seven better than Ernie Els.

Tiger Woods is three shots off the lead after an up-and-down round, and the weekend cut is at eight over.

All the action from Pinehurst (all times BST):

2344: Jason Gore successfully gets up-and-down from a greenside bunker to card a 67 for a share of first place at the halfway stage.

2329: Australia's Mark Hensby birdies the last to become only the fifth man under par and add to the international flavour of the leaderboard.

2320: Bernhard Langer drains a long putt for birdie at the last to get back to seven over, safely inside the cut mark.

2310: After a glorious tee shot, Lee Westwood sees his four-foot birdie putt never threaten the hole. He taps in for a 72 and a share of fifth place, two behind the leaders. Ian Poulter, meanwhile, holes a long putt for par at the 18th to get back to "the house" at six over.

2309: KJ Choi finishes with a birdie to get within back under par and within a shot of the lead going into the weekend.

2303: Retief Goosen taps in for par at the last for a round of 70, a share of the lead and a well-earned beer in the clubhouse.

2259: The unheralded American Jason Gore birdies the sixth, his 15th, to join the leaders on two under.

2255: KJ Choi bogeys the 17th and now there are only three players under par. Predictions of a winning score of even par are starting to look very accurate.

2250: David Toms taps in for a six-six finish. Those five dropped shots took him from first to joint 17th.

2247: David Toms' challenge is unravelling fast at the short ninth, his last. He looks like finishing his round double-bogey, triple-bogey.

2243: Tiger Woods' birdie putt at the last ends an inch short but a battling back nine has left the Masters champion just three off the lead. Playing partner Luke Donald bogeys the hole to slip back to two over, one behind Woods.

2238: Having seen his first putt meander past the hole, gather pace and trundle all the way to the fringe on the far side of the green, Lee Westwood holes a massive putt for par to stay within two of the lead. Ian Poulter, meanwhile, slams home a long putt on the 17th to get to four over, only six off the lead.

2233: David Toms' stay in sole possession of first lasted five minutes as he double-bogeys the eighth, his 17th, to return to one under. The greens now look absolutely treacherous.

2228: Retief Goosen misses his par putt and David Toms' climb to the summit at Pinehurst is complete...but can he stay there?

2227: Ernie Els bogeys the last to complete a dreadful day. He is now right on the cut mark of seven over.

2220: After his bad luck at the fifth hole, Retief Goosen is dealt another cruel blow by Pinehurst at the seventh. His approach rolled off the green and came to rest on the very edge of the bunker. He was forced to play his third with his feet in the trap and the ball level with his knees. Having managed that he is now faced with a tricky 10-footer for par.

2215: Tiger Woods reminds everyone of his threat with a superb birdie at the difficult 16th. The world number one is now one over, four behind the leaders.

2212: Further down the field there are a number of British players battling hard to make the weekend. Nick Dougherty and Jonathan Lomas should have done enough with fighting 74s to get back to the clubhouse on six over, and Ian Poulter has improved his score to five over with a few to play.

2209: Olin Browne taps in for birdie at the ninth, his last, to claim the clubhouse lead at two under.

2206: KJ Choi falls back to one under with a bogey on the 14th.

2200: A two-shot swing in five minutes sees David Toms join Retief Goosen at the top of the leaderboard on three under. The American rams home another putt from downtown - this time on the short sixth, his 15th - for his third birdie in four holes.

2156: Retief Goosen and Pinehurst do the rest of the field a massive favour at the 472-yard fifth, his 14th. The South African was desperately unlucky to see a good approach shot trickle off the green into a poor lie in a hollow. A bogey was the result and now his lead is just one.

2154: Ernie Els is having a miserable day. The world number three is six over - the current projected cut mark - with three holes still to play.

2143: If Retief Goosen was annoyed about being underestimated coming into this event he is going the right way about rectifying that. A third birdie of the day takes him to four under, two clear.

2137: The Fab Four become a Famous Five once more - Lee Westwood holes a nice putt at the third, his 12th, to get back in credit. KJ Choi then taps in for birdie at the 12th to join Olin Browne and David Toms on two under.

2127: Joining David Toms on two under is Olin Browne - but only after he holed a courageous double-bogey putt from 20 feet. Browne chipped from bunker to bunker, and then put his second sand wedge over the green once more. Having finally found the putting surface with his fourth shot, a triple bogey looked certain. But Browne holed his putt and is now one behind Retief Goosen.

2126: David Toms' move up the leaderboard is starting to look interesting. A second long birdie putt in a row takes him to two under.

2124: It's going to be all change at the top soon as Olin Browne is making a pig's ear of the 220-yard sixth.

2120: The birdies appear to have completely dried up and every par putt is being warmly applauded. KJ Choi, however, sees his short putt at the 11th stay up for his first bogey of the day, and then Lee Westwood drops a shot to return to level par.

2105: After a quiet period on the course, with the leaders concentrating on playing par golf, David Toms slams home a long birdie putt at the third, his 12th, to become the fifth man in red numbers, three behind Olin Browne.

2040: Retief Goosen goes into second place on his own thanks to a textbook birdie at the first, his 10th. Overnight co-leader Rocco Mediate, however, is going in the wrong direction and a bogey at the second, his 11th, drops him to level par.

2030: Olin Browne's unlikely US Open challenge continues unabated with a second straight birdie. The American is now two shots clear on four under. Jason Gore bogeys the sixth and there are now only five players under par.

2026: Lee Westwood makes his first mistake of the round with a bogey at the eighth. The Englishman falls back to one under, alongside Rocco Mediate and Jason Gore. There are currently only six men under par and the projected cut has moved to seven over.

2020: The wheels are coming off Tiger Woods' challenge. A third bogey in four holes drops him to two over par. But playing partner Luke Donald is getting his bid back on track. A birdie at the ninth returns him to level par for the tournament.

2015: Five minutes after KJ Choi joined the gang at two under, Olin Browne strikes off on his own with a birdie at the second, his 11th, to get back to three under.

2010: KJ Choi makes it a five-way tie for first with a birdie at the seventh.

2005: After a regulation par at seven, Tiger Woods makes a mess of the eighth for his second bogey in three holes. The world number one is now one over, three behind the leaders.

1946: Retief Goosen drops a shot at the 15th, his sixth, to fall back to two under.

1942: England's Ian Poulter chips in at the fifth for a third straight birdie to reach five over.

1932: Retief Goosen holes a six-footer back for par on the fifth to stay in a share of the lead at three under. Tiger Woods three-putts on six to fall back to level.

1920: Luke Donald's 15-foot par putt on the fifth lips out for a third bogey to slip to one over.

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1904: Tiger Woods misses an eagle putt on four but bags the birdie to reach one under as Rocco Mediate reaches four under, only the second player after Brandt Jobe briefly on Thursday.

1858: Green staff are already resorting to watering the greens during play as the hot sun threatens to bake the putting surfaces rock hard.

1840: All change as Retief Goosen goes to the top with a birdie at the long 10th, his first. Co-overnight leader Olin Browne slips back to two under with a bogey at the 14th, his fifth.

1820: Luke Donald bogeys the first to drop back to level par.

1805: Sergio Garcia finishes on 69 to end his second round at level par.

1759: Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Chris DiMarco tee off down the first. Woods drags his drive left and clutches his rib. DiMarco and Donald nail theirs.

1747: Co-overnight leader Olin Browne pars the first to stay three under.

1735: Vijay Singh misses a birdie putt on 18 to stay level with a second 70.

1721: Phil Mickelson ends with a seven-over 77 for six over overall. Kiwi Michael Campbell finishes with a 69 for level par as Tommy Armour cards a 72 for two over.

Sweden's Peter Hedblom, who qualified at Walton Heath earlier this month, shot a US Open course record at Pinehurst of 66 to climb to three over after an opening 77.

1715: Vijay Singh drops another shot to drop back to level par.

1700: Vijay Singh slips back to one under with a bogey at the short 15th after seeing his tee shot scamper through the green.

Jim Furyk edges further onwards to one under with a birdie at 13.

1630: Former champion Jim Furyk slips quietly to level par after 12 holes. Colin Montgomerie, meanwhile, bogeys the fifth, his 14th, to continue his slide to seven over.

1625: Vijay Singh birdies the par-four 13th to nudge to two under, one off the lead.

1546: Phil Mickelson picks up his first birdie of the round at the third, his 12th, to climb to four over.

1519: Colin Montgomerie reaches the turn in 39 for six over.

1513: Vijay Singh bogeys the ninth to reach the turn in level-par 35, for level overall. Michael Campbell birdies the 10th to edge to one under.

1507: Bob Estes double bogeys the par-four fifth to slip back to one under after a brief share of the lead.

1456: A dispirited Phil Mickelson reaches the turn in 41 after six bogeys.

1452: Bob Estes surges to three under after four as Vijay Singh creeps to one under after seven.

1433: Bob Estes birdies the third to reach two under, one off the lead, as Australian Nick O'Hern creeps to level par with a second birdie in his first four holes.

1420: Michael Campbell birdies the seventh to get back to one under. Tommy Armour III, Thomas Bjorn, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh and Angel Cabrera are all jockeying at level par.

1354: England's Paul Casey pulls out before starting his second round on Friday. Casey slumped to a 15-over 85 in the first round.

1347: Phil Mickelson drops another shot at the 13th to slide back to one over.

1342: New Zealand's Michael Campbell picks upa second straight birdie to reach one under after four as Adam Scott drops back to join him after a bogey on the 13th.

1337: Thomas Bjorn, Sergio Garcia and Fred Couples all birdie the long 10th, their first, to reach level par.

1330: Adam Scott picks up a second straight birdie on the par-four 12th (his third) to get to two under, one off the lead. Playing partner Phil Mickelson bogeys the 12th to slip back to level.

1324: Argentine Angel Cabrera, the BMW Championship winner, birdies the long 10th, his first, to edge to level par overall.

1314: Australian Adam Scott birdies the 11th, his second, to reach one under as Phil Mickelson makes another par.

1312: World number two Vijay Singh pars the first to stay level.

1309: Colin Montgomerie double-bogeys the 10th, his first, to slide back to four over. Paul McGinley begins with two bogeys from the first to fall to eight over.

1306: US Ryder Cup star Fred Funk bags a second birdie in his first three holes to edge to one over.

1300: American Tommy Armour III picks up a birdie at the fourth to climb to one under for the tournament, two shots off the lead.

1254: Phil Mickelson pars the 10th, his first, to stay one under. Mickelson's playing partner Adam Scott also pars the 10th to stay level as American Steve Flesch moves to one over with a birdie at the first.

1240: Spencer Levin and Fred Funk both birdie the first to creep to two over.

1230: Phil Mickelson prepares to tee off from the 10th on his second.

1217: Tommy Armour III pars the first to stay level par for the tournament. Richard Green slips to three over with a bogey at the 10th, while Peter Hedblom birdies the first to climb to six over.