By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent, Long Island

Padraig Harrington faces the biggest challenge of his golfing life on Saturday - and is determined not to fall into the obvious trap.

Only in the 1999 Ryder Cup in Boston is Harrington likely to have faced an atmosphere like the one which will greet him for the third round of the United States Open in New York.

He is two under par and in second place, four strokes clear of the chasing pack.

But the problem is that the player three shots ahead of him in the lead is the man all the fans will be coming to see, world No 1 and Masters champion Tiger Woods.

"I really am not interested in what he's going to do. I'm just more interested in what I'm going to do," said Harrington after a superb second-round 68 achieved in atrocious conditions at Bethpage Black.

The Dubliner is far too intelligent a person, however, to believe he can simply shut out Woods and the hullabaloo that follows him everywhere.

It is how he copes with the fans, the media and the marshals and how he goes about his own work that will determine whether he can stop Woods turning the event into a one-man show.

"He's a very intimidating force to be paired up with in a major," says Harrington, facing up to the reality of the situation.

"He's a phenomenal player and it can certainly distract anybody who's playing with him.

"The difficulty is managing my own game so I'm not distracted. But over the years, looking at guys who have been paired up with Tiger on Saturdays and Sundays of major tournaments, it tends to have a negative effect.

"I've seen many of my friends in the game who have shot 77, 78 when they're paired with Tiger, so it's obviously very difficult."

The two were partners in the final round last year and while they were too far back to be in contention it was an experience which Harrington - beaten 74 to 69 by the way - is sure will stand him in good sted.

"The first thing I noticed was there was like 30 photographers on the second fairway trying to get pictures of him. They weren't interested in me," said Harrington.

Remember Bob May and forget Colin Montgomerie, Costantino Rocca, Mike Weir and Thomas Bjorn has to be the message for the 31-year-old.

Montgomerie, who last night bogeyed the 17th to miss the halfway cut in the US Open for the first time, famously went head-to-head with Woods in the third round of the 1997 Masters.

He thought his greater experience then might swing things his way. Woods shot 65, Montgomerie 74 - and then 81 the next day seemingly still in shock.

Rocca played the final 18 holes with Woods then and had a 75 to the American's 69, while Bjorn and Weir both failed to break 80 in the final group of the 2000 US Open and 1999 US PGA respectively when Woods was alongside them.

May, however, rose to the occasion at the 2000 US PGA. One behind, he produced the round of his life, a six-under-par 66. Mind you, it still wasn't enough - Woods had a 67 and won the play--off.

Woods, already with seven majors to his name, is the best front-runner the game has ever seen and looks odds-on to achieve the second leg of his Grand Slam bid.

"In any US Open it's always going to be difficult to make up shots because it's not easy to make birdies," he commented, clearly not contemplating the possibility that he might start coming back to the field.

"I'm very pleased with the way I'm striking the ball and, more importantly, I'm really controlling my pace on the greens and making some key putts."

He had 28 putts in his opening 67 and 27 in his 68 yesterday.

"I'm ecstatic that I'm at the top right now, but there's a long way to go and I've still got to play hard."

He lives his career with crowds, of course, but even he has been taken aback by this week.

"If I don't have a hearing problem I might have one by the end of the week. You come off tee boxes and they scream right in your ear," said Woods.

"It's impressive they can yell that loud. I know I can't. You can hear them four or five holes away."

Harrington, fifth at the Masters in April, six behind Woods, hopes it will be not just one round with Woods, but two, of course.

The group sharing third place comprises Sergio Garcia, also trying to be the first European winner since Tony Jacklin in 1970, Davis Love, Jeff Maggert and South Korean KJ Choi.

The cut came at 10 over, the highest for years, but still not high enough for Montgomerie. He finished 11 over, while Swindon's David Howell shot 19 over and Paul McGinley 14 over.

Nick Faldo and Paul Lawrie are six over, but that was good enough for 20th place. Darren Clarke and Luke Donald are two further back.