SAN DIEGO - A strong finish by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson made them feel better about their rounds Friday on opposite ends of Torrey Pines, and better about their chances of catching Bill Haas.

Haas made eight birdies on the South Course for a 6-under-par 66, giving him a 2-shot lead over Anthony Kim going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open.

"A nice 36 [holes] on the weekend could turn this into a great week," Haas said.

It's shaping up to be quite a show.

Mickelson, with his wife mingling in the gallery this week for the first time since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2009, turned an ordinary round into a decent one with back-to-back birdies for a 3-under 69 on the North Course. He was 3 shots behind along with defending champion Ben Crane, four of Mickelson's Ryder Cup teammates, and John Daly.

Yes, that John Daly.

Winless since his surprise playoff victory seven years ago at Torrey Pines, Daly overcame a double bogey on the North Course for a 69 and found himself in the hunt for the first time since he slimmed down and started wearing the loudest clothes on tour. Could this be another out-of-nowhere win?

"With me, you don't know what to expect," Daly said.

Woods, who has won his last five starts on this jewel along with Pacific, managed to stay in the game. He had a 69 and was 5 shots behind, but with only 11 players ahead of him.

Woods ran off four straight birdies early in his round and at one point was only 3 shots out of the lead. But he twice took 2 shots to get out of bunkers and was as many as 8 shots behind until the final half-hour. He laced a 5-iron into 12 feet for birdie on the 16th, made a 20-foot par putt after a plugged lie in the face of a bunker on the 17th, then hit 5-wood from 248 yards over the water and onto the green on the par-5 18th, two-putting for birdie.

"It was a round that easily could have slipped away," Woods said.

The finish left him optimistic about ending the longest drought of his career. It has been 14 months since his last victory, dating to the Australian Masters in November 2009 just before his Thanksgiving night car accident.

"It cost me a chance to build on what I had," he said.

Then came his first bogey of the year on the par-3 11th, when he left a shot in the bunker trying to hit a perfect shot. He hit a fat bunker shot on the 14th and stayed in the sand trap, having to make a 6-footer for bogey. Another bunker shot on the 15th caught a ridge and rolled 30 feet away. The finish saved him.

Elsewhere: Miguel Angel Jimenez made three birdies putting with a lob wedge after breaking his putter to set up a four-way tie for the lead halfway through the Volvo Champions in Riffa, Bahrain.

Jimenez, Edoardo Molinari of Italy and Raphael Jacquelin of France shot 7-under-par 65s Friday to join Peter Hanson (67) of Sweden at 11-under 133 at Royal Golf Club.

Twenty-five players are within three shots of the lead after two rounds of the new European Tour event in Bahrain.