ORLANDO, Fla. - Imagine how Rocco Mediate felt the first time he met Arnold Palmer on a golf course. He was 19 when friends secretly arranged a golf game at Latrobe, Pa., and the kid was so overcome by seeing the King that he nearly turned and ran.

Imagine how he would feel 25 years later to see Palmer waiting for him Sunday afternoon on the 18th hole at Bay Hill.

"It would be pretty interesting to see if I could even talk," said Mediate, a guy who rarely shuts up.

Mediate chatted away through wind and rain Friday, making birdie on two of the toughest holes during his 5-under 65 that gave him a three- shot lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tiger Woods was lucky to still be in the mix.

Woods, tied for the lead after his 64 in the first round, hooked one tee shot into the water and hit plenty of others into the rough. He closed with four tough pars for 73, leaving him six shots behind.

Asked for any positives to take out of a bad day, Woods replied, "I broke 80."

"It was pathetic," he said. "I struggled all day. At least I'm still in contention."

Mediate was at 9-under 131 and gets to spend a third straight day with Paul Casey, who gladly exchanges the banter. Casey shot 70 and was at 134 with John Rollins, who played with Woods and shot 65.

The group at 5-under 135 featured former British Open champion Ben Curtis (67), former PGA champion Shaun Micheel (68), Players champion Stephen Ames (67), Sergio Garcia (69) and Vaughn Taylor, who bogeyed his last two holes for 71.

Mediate still is only halfway home to a handshake with his hero. The fact he is even in this position is almost as surprising as that first meeting with Palmer.

Mediate has dealt with back issues nearly his entire career, especially after surgery in 1994. One of the low points came last year at the Masters, where he was tied for the lead going to the back nine until his back gave out. Barely able to swing a club, Mediate put three balls in the water on the 12th hole and made 10, tumbling to an 80 and a tie for 36th.

He played sparingly the rest of the year and needed a minor medical exemption to keep his card. Mediate asked Palmer to watch his game during the first few months this season, and to offer him a spot in his tournament if it looked as though Mediate was worthy.

Mediate tied for ninth at Riviera last month.

"I think when he saw me play pretty good at L.A., and starting to see things go up, he said, 'Well, let's give him a shot.' And that's very inspiring to me," Mediate said. "Whatever happens the next two days, I'm not real concerned."

AT&T CHAMPIONS CLASSIC at Santa Clarita, Calif. - Former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin shot an 8-under 64 to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Champions Tour event.

The 61-year-old Irwin, the 1998 and 2002 tournament champion who won the season-opening MasterCard Championship for his tour- record 45th victory, had an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey on the Valencia Country Club course.

Jim Thorpe, David Edwards and Isao Aoki opened with 66s, and Loren Roberts, Fuzzy Zoeller and John Jacobs shot 67s.

TCL CLASSIC at Sanya, China - Chapchai Nirat of Thailand shot 6-under 66 to take a six- shot lead after the second round in an event co-sponsored by the PGA European and Asian tours.

Nirat is at 17-under 127 after 36 holes. Five players were in at 11-under 133.

NIKE RECALL: Nike Inc.'s golf division has issued a voluntary recall for its square-shaped Sasquatch Sumo2 driver because a "small percentage" of club heads don't conform to the sport's rules, the company said.

Nike, which employs Tiger Woods as its lead endorser, said an "unauthorized manufacturing variance"' occurred during early production of the clubs for U.S., Canadian and European markets, resulting in some exceeding the U.S. Golf Association's legal limit for ball speed off the club face, Nike Golf president Bob Wood said on a media conference call.

No professional or college players who are sponsored by Nike are affected, because their clubs are individually tested at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, facility. Wood wouldn't say how many clubs were non-conforming or how many of the drivers have been sold since they went on the market in January.

The company was informed of the problem by the USGA in mid-February and has since corrected it at the factory, Wood said.