MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Colin Montgomerie didn't make a birdie and said he was delighted. Phil Mickelson said bogeys were OK.

And perhaps the strangest words yesterday came from Tiger Woods.

He said goodbye.

The U.S. Open is known as the toughest test in golf, but Winged Foot showed it can be a little wacky at times.

Just as surprising as Woods missing the cut for the first time in a major was the guy who wound up atop the leaderboard — Steve Stricker, who hasn't had his PGA Tour card in two years and hasn't had the lead at a major since 1998.

He got there with a birdie on his final hole, and typical of the day, it wasn't the garden variety. After consecutive bogeys from the bunker, Stricker found himself in the sand left of the ninth green and fearful of another bogey. The ball took one bounce and disappeared into the cup for a birdie and a 1-under 69, leaving him the only player under par going into the weekend.

"It's tough to explain," said Stricker, who was at 1-under 139. "But that's the game of golf."

Even so, nothing was more shocking than Woods going home early, though David Duval getting into the hunt was close.

Woods returned from his longest layoff by making his earliest departure at a major, leaving this U.S. Open in the hands of an eclectic mix of players that includes Mickelson, his biggest rival.

"I don't care if you had what transpired in my life of recent or not," said Woods, playing for the first time since his father died and posting rounds of 76-76 to miss by three shots. "Poor execution is never going to feel very good."

Montgomerie was steady off the tee and on his scorecard. The best player without a major suddenly looks as if it's not too late to shed that burdensome baggage, getting around with a 71 to finish at even-par 140.

"Assess the round?" Monty mused. "Seventeen pars, one bogey. That's good. That's very good. One mistake is good. No birdies isn't."

Match Play champion Geoff Ogilvy and Kenneth Ferrie each had even-par 70 to finish at 141, and Ferrie showed how quickly this course, with its deep rough and undulating greens, can wipe out a good day. He reached 3 under for the tournament until double bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes.

For all the thrills and mostly spills, two players considered favorites at this championship were looming not far from lead.

One of them was Jim Furyk, the 2003 winner at Olympia Fields. He ran off nine straight pars before hitting a few bumps coming in, but still managed a 72 and was 2 over, along with Padraig Harrington (69).

The other was Mickelson, who celebrated his 36th birthday yesterday.

The Masters champion, trying to join Woods as the only players in the past 50 years to win three straight majors, opened with consecutive bogeys and appeared headed down the leaderboard like so many others. But he limited his mistakes, including an up-and-down on his final hole to escape with bogey. Mickelson wound up with a 73, and at 3 over was four shots behind.

"Bogeys are OK," Mickelson said. "I'm within four shots with two rounds to go."

Another shock was that the former British Open champion was in the mix.

Duval opened with a 77, and most figured he would be gone by the weekend for the 12th straight time in a major. Instead, he went 14 holes without a bogey, rang up four birdies along the way and, except for a double bogey from the rough on No. 6, looked like a contender. He wound up with a 68.

"You see the scores when you get done and you don't know what happened," Duval said of his recent play. "It's those little things that need to add up in a round of golf that haven't for me."

The cut at the U.S. Open is the top 60 and ties, and anyone within 10 shots of the lead. Stricker's birdie knocked out nine players who finished at 10 over, including U.S. Senior Open champion Allen Doyle and Andrew Svoboda, who grew up at Winged Foot.