SETTING A RECORD PACE WEIR, MARUYAMA LEAD CHARGE; BAIRD'S 62 NEAR MARK.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

Fred Couples got the fans going early in Friday's second round of the Nissan Open, and Shigeki Muruyama kept the galleries stirred up late.

But in between - around and amidst a thunder-amplified rainstorm that dampened play but never halted it - defending champion Mike Weir, local hero Scott McCarron, record-threatening Briny Baird, irrepressible John Daly and resilient Tiger Woods made Riviera Country Club a happening place to be.

``The guys are attacking it, the numbers are out there right now,'' Weir said after softening greens helped produce 22 Friday rounds of 66 or better - one of which kept Woods in the hunt for his first Nissan title.

Weir, showing the stuff that earned him a playoff victory at last year's Nissan and two months later a Masters title, birdied six of his final seven holes in a round of 64 that wound up tying him with late finisher Maruyama (66) for the midway lead at 12-under-par 130.

``I just tried to make the cut, That's the only thing I was thinking,'' Maruyama said with the aide of an interpreter.

He wound up sharing the tournament's 36-hole record with Weir.

Had Baird been just a bit bolder, or maybe less sensible, he might have shared the lead - and the Nissan and Riviera 18-hole records. But he refused to push too hard for a birdie on his final hole, settling for the safer play and a par for a 62 that left him at 131.

``I didn't care,'' he said about the chance for a 61 and a share of the course and tournament record set by Ted Tryba in 1999. ``It's one that you hit it a foot too hard and it rolls seven feet past the cup.''

He wound up within a shot of the lead, tied with former UCLA player McCarron, who rode a six-birdie mid-round spurt to a 65. Both of them are a stroke ahead of the resurgent Daly (64-132), who won for the first time in nearly nine years last week and who hit the ball brilliantly throughout his round Friday before leaving his final-hole putt for par on the lip of the cup.

``I just don't remember hitting that many solid golf shots in 18 holes,'' said Daly, who finished with eight birdies and said his score ``could have been a lot lower. ... It's a round that there wasn't any good breaks.''

Woods didn't need any breaks, despite starting the day in 77th place and in some jeopardy of not making the cut after an opening round of 71.

``I was close,'' he said after a round that included seven birdies. ``I had a really clean round today. ... I'm very pleased, very pleased with today. I just made a couple of mistakes here and there, but overall it was a very good round.''

McCarron, who dropped from 5 under par to 11 under during a seven-hole, mid-round surge, got his usual strong support from UCLA fans on a day conditions were ideal for scoring.

``There wasn't a lot of wind out here today,'' he said after his 17th round in the 60s in his past 24 tour starts. ``We had a little bit of rain off and on, but the course was soft enough.

``The greens are just perfect this year. I think this is the best condition that I have ever seen Riviera in the last 25 years.''

Couples, another fan favorite who won the Nissan in 1990 and again during his Masters championship year of 1992, got things started fast Friday by making birdie on two of his first three holes.

That got him to a share of the lead with first-round leaders Maruyama and Shaun Micheel, both of whom were hours away from their starting tee times, and with fellow early starter Weir, who jumped out fast with a first-hole eagle.

Couples dropped briefly out of the lead and reclaimed a share of it with another birdie on his fifth hole. But before the familiar shouts of ``Boom Boom'' could start echoing through the Riviera eucalyptus trees, the 44- year-old Couples was passed again and went on to finish at 70 for a mid-round total of 136.

Good enough to make the cut and enough to stir up some memories, but not enough to finish closer than six strokes of the lead on the best-scoring day of the tournament.

No one shot better than Baird, who made nine birdies in a bogeyless round that produced the best second-round score in Nissan Open history.

``Conditions are real good for scoring,'' he said. ``The greens are pretty smooth and they're soft, so that's a real good combination when you can get greens like that. It's not real hard to get close to the pins.''

Seventy-eight players made the cut of 1-under-par 141, including first- round co-leader and 2003 PGA champion Micheel, who combined with Maruyama to produce 14 birdies and an eagle in the hottest group of the opening round.

Micheel followed that first-round 66 with a 70 Friday for a 134 total that left him four shots back of first place.

Others to advance included Tim Herron (64-133), 2000 Nissan champion Kirk Triplett (67-133), Jeff Maggert (66-133) and qualifier Russ Cochran (66-133), whose front-nine 30 briefly vaulted him into a share of the second-round lead.

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1) Scott McCarron, driving off the 12th tee Friday, finished with a 65 to put him one stroke off the lead.

(2) Second-round co-leader Mike Weir chips from the fringe to nearly make a birdie on the 9th hole Friday.

Gus Ruelas/Staff photographer

(3) no caption (Mike Weir)

Box:

(1) From the FRINGE

(2) LEADERBOARD