ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- If you are as obscure and unknown as Shaun Micheel, this is the perfect year to be leading a major championship.

	Shaun Micheel's late charge was worth a tip of the cap Friday.

When first-timers have claimed the other three majors this year, how hard can it be?

When Ben Curtis, who had never even played in a major, comes through, why not Micheel?

After all, stranger things have happened. Haven't they?

Micheel would not be as big of a shock as Curtis was last month at the British Open, even though the leader through two rounds of the PGA Championship has never finished higher than third in a PGA Tour event, never played in a PGA before this one, never been grilled as extensively about his life as he was Friday evening.

That's what you get when you match the lowest score of the day at Oak Hill Country Club, a 2-under-par 68 that included birdies at four of his last five holes to take a two-shot lead over Mike Weir and Billy Andrade into the weekend.

The difference, of course, is that Micheel must sleep on that lead Friday night. Curtis snuck up on everybody at the British Open last month. Although he was just two shots back entering the final round, he was surrounded by the likes of Thomas Bjorn, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Davis Love III. He got lost.

Micheel is not lost. At least not yet. He sits alone, atop the leaderboard.

"It will be an unbelievable experience to go on and play the next two days the same way that I've played these first two," Micheel said. "This is only my third major championship. Players rate their careers on how many they have won. Heck, I've only played in three. I was just happy and honored to be invited."

Micheel, 34, lives in Memphis and played college golf at Indiana University. A relatively late bloomer, he went to South Africa after college, then toiled on the mini-tours, twice earning his PGA Tour card in 1994 and 1997 without success.

In 2000, Micheel had three top-10 finishes and finished 104th on the money list, lost his card after the 2001 season but regained it at Q-school, then finished 105th last year. He has earned more than $2 million in his PGA Tour career.

Aside from golf, Micheel has a love of flying, which is what he does most when he returns to Memphis, where his father recently retired as a FedEx pilot.

"My No. 1 goal, beside winning golf tournaments and supporting my baby that's on the way, is to get an airplane to try to make life just a little bit easier," Micheel said. "I had not seen my wife in 3½ weeks. I think that having an airplane would allow me to be able to get back and see her a little bit more. … Plus, I love doing it anyways." A high finish, a victory, would go a long way toward realizing some of those goals, although that might be getting ahead of things a bit.

Then again, Curtis proved it's not out of the question.

"I feel very fortunate to be here," Micheel said. "I didn't do anything spectacular today or yesterday. I just hit the ball in the fairway. I just played golf. I just hope that it carries over for me."

Bob Harig covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times and is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.