SAN DIEGO -- Brandt Jobe now can say he is leading the Buick Invitational after handling the tough South Course with a 5-under 67 on Friday. How he got there remains a mystery to him.

Coming off a brilliant round of putting on the less challenging North Course, the long-hitting Jobe kept the ball in play and made the only eagle on the par-5 18th to build a two-shot lead over Tim Clark and Jesper Parnevik.

"My games yesterday and today were not even comparable," said Jobe, who was at 12-under 132. "I hit the ball good today and putted great yesterday. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

The two courses at Torrey Pines Golf Course are nothing alike, making it hard to sort out who's doing what until the weekend. The final two days will include defending champion Tiger Woods, who recovered from a rugged start to his year with a 4-under 68 on the South Course, including a 60-foot eagle putt on the 13th.

Woods stands seven shots out of the lead.

Clark (66) and Parnevik (67) were on the North Course, which played five shots easier.

Even after he opened with a 65 on the North, Jobe said he considered Parnevik to be in the lead because the Swede had a 67 on the South.

"Give me a 5 under on the South Course tomorrow and then we'll talk," he said Thursday.

And that's what he got, overcoming consecutive bogeys earlier in his round with a 3-wood into 10 feet on the 18th, consecutive bogeys to start the second nine and no mistakes over the final 10 holes.

"Coming to the South Course, if I played like I did yesterday, I probably would have shot over par because I couldn't hit a fairway," Jobe said. "Today, I said, 'All right, you're going to have to tighten things up.' Fortunately, I did. I drove the ball real well."

Steve Lowery had a 69 on the South and was at 8-under 136, while the group at 137 included Shigeki Maruyama and Sergio Garcia, who made two late birdie putts for a 68.

Some players took advantage of the North to make the cut. Ryan Palmer shot 76 in the first round, then came back with a 62 on the North to join the group at 6 under that included Phil Mickelson (67).

Davis Love III shot 67 to make his first cut of the year, although he stands nine shots behind.

Woods put himself in a perilous spot by hitting only one fairway on the North Course and opening with a 71, leaving him around the cut line when he started his second round on a course that will host the U.S. Open in two years. But he didn't stay there for long.

He holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 third hole and hit a beautiful flop from deep rough on the par-5 ninth to close out his front nine in 32. Then came the 13th, where his approach on the par 5 left him on the right side of the green, 60 feet and a steep ridge away from the cup.

His caddie was tending the pin, and raised his arms to celebrate when the ball was still a few feet away. Woods turned and raised both arms when it dropped, putting him at 7 under.

Still, he found improvement and felt he had a decent chance to become the first four-time winner of this event. "The first round, I had a hard time trusting it," Woods said of his tee shots. "Today was a lot better."

Brandt Jobe eagled the par-5 18th hole on Friday. (Grayson/ WireImage)

Clark nearly squandered his opportunity on the North Course, which is more than 700 yards shorter than the South. The less difficult stretch is the back nine -- he started on No. 10 -- and he played that in even par, finishing with an approach to the 18th that landed on the 10th tee to set up a bad bogey.

"That kind of hurt me," Clark said. "I said, 'Forget about it, let's just make as many birdies as we can and try to get back into it.' Four under and I'm right back in the tournament."

For Parnevik, it's a continuation of his solid play last week in the desert, where he tied for second in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. A bad chip on the 11th wasn't the best of starts, but he settled down with a series of wedges inside 10 feet and made most of them for birdies.

"It was actually more of a struggle today," Parnevik said. "If you hit your shots in the wrong places, you're going to have pretty wicked putts."

Divots: Jason Gore broke par for the first time all year on Thursday with a 69 on the North, but followed that with a 75 on the South to miss the cut for the third straight week. ... Tom Pernice Jr. hit a shot into a tree that never came down, and he had to take a two-shot penalty for a lost ball. ... Bubba Watson and Bubba Dickerson will be in the same group Saturday, along with Pat Perez.

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