Phil Mickelson looked like the man to beat in the US Open with a flawless round of 4-under 66 at Shinnecock Hills that left the Masters champion tied with Shigeki Maruyama and in great position to capture the second leg of the Grand Slam.
"Phil the Thrill" appears to be a thing of the past. Mickelson kept his driver in the bag Friday, kept big numbers off his card and made every putt inside 8 feet -- the kind of golf that usually wins a US Open.
PHOTO: REUTERS
And if anyone thought he would be satisfied after finally slipping on a green jacket, forget it.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"I really haven't felt that sense of relief," said Mickelson, who ended an 0-for-42 drought at Augusta National. "What I have felt is a sense of excitement and anticipation. I can't wait for the upcoming majors now because I feel like I'm onto something to play well in the big tournaments."
Cheered on by a raucous crowd that loves Mickelson as much as he loves New York, he finished two trips around Shinnecock Hills at 6-under 134. Maruyama joined him late in the afternoon with a 2-under 68, letting a chance to lead a major by himself for the first time slip away when he drove into the rough on his final hole and made bogey.
They will be in the final pairing Saturday, and Maruyama knows who will get the loudest cheers.
"I will get ear plugs for tomorrow," he said.
Jeff Maggert had a 67 and was one shot behind, while former US Open champion Retief Goosen and Fred Funk each had a 66 and were at 4-under 136.
Shinnecock Hills was plenty tough but once again lacked the wind that usually terrorizes the world's best players. Still, it only accepts the best golf, which was evident on a leaderboard that featured all the top players.
Well, all but No. 1.
Ernie Els birdied four straight holes to jump into contention and finished with a 67, only three shots out of the lead at 137. Vijay Singh had a 70 and was another stroke behind.
As for Tiger Woods, he spent much of the round flirting with the cut line until a couple of big par saves, back-to-back birdies and an 8-foot par putt on the final hole gave him a 69. He was at 141, seven shots behind and still holding out hope.
"The great thing about it is the guys aren't going to run away and hide on this golf course," Woods said.
Maybe not, but catching Mickelson is no picnic.
Lefty spent three days at Shinnecock Hills last weekend, learning all the nuances on the links-styled course. He attributes his great play more to preparation than a burden being lifted from ending his major drought.
"I feel as though I'm not having any surprises," he said. "I know that if I hit it over here, I'm OK; if I hit it over here, I don't have a chance, and so forth. I think that has given me a lot of confidence playing the course."
Angel Cabrera had a 71 to join Els at 3-under 137, while '95 US Open champion Corey Pavin had a 71 and was in the group at 138 with Singh.
Jay Haas, the first-round co-leader trying at 50 to become the oldest winner of a major, made double bogey on the final hole for a 74 and slipped six shots behind.
Mickelson had to play three holes Friday morning to complete his first round, and he immediately got in trouble by going long on the par-3 seventh. His ball was buried in a thick mess of grass, and he faced a steep slope to a green that went down toward the bunkers.
He chopped it up the hill in a safe place, rolled his par putt some 8 feet by and holed that for a worthy bogey.
"It could have easily been worse, so I was very pleased to make bogey there," he said.
Mickelson followed with a 12-foot birdie and closed out his 68, and those pivotal putts carried him in the second round. During one stretch on the front nine, he made five consecutive putts between 5 and 10 feet. One was for birdie, the rest to save par.
His control off the tee was phenomenal, mostly with a 3-wood.
"Left chimney," caddie Jim MacKay told him on the ninth tee, picking out the target from the clubhouse high on the hill. Another perfect shot.
Through it all, the size of the gallery swelled, and they held nothing back.
"Win it for the New Yawkers," one man cried.
The back nine looked more like a Main Street parade, not a major championship. Mickelson looked both ways, grinning, smiling, feeling like he was the luckiest man alive. In between this celebration -- or was it a coronation? -- he even hit a few golf shots, and most of them were pure.
"That's the way we're all striving to play -- the way he's playing now," Kirk Triplett said. "There are a lot of hard shots out there, and he hit a lot of good ones."
Mickelson made them all look easy.
He opted for fairway metals off the tee and rarely left the middle of the fairway. A 6-iron into No. 12 hopped hard and trickled just inside the approach of Triplett, giving Mickelson a perfect read from about 18 feet. It was similar to his walk-off birdie at the Masters, when Chris DiMarco putted first on the same line.
"I call it being `DiMarcoed,' and it's a good thing," Mickelson said. The putt was good all the way, putting Mickelson alone in the lead at 5 under.
The par-5 16th -- a hole he played in 6 over to cost him the '95 Open -- was executed to perfection. He hit 3-wood off the tee, 4-iron into the bunker and blasted out to 3 feet for birdie.
David Duval's return to competitive golf after an eight-month layoff wasn't a success as far as scores went, but that didn't matter to the 2001 British Open champion, who said he played because it was the US Open.
"For what I was trying to accomplish I think I did that," Duval said after completing a second-round 82 that left him at 25-over 165, 155th in the field of 156.
Duval said he would play at the British Open next month.
"I'll be at Troon. I don't know if I'll play before then but I may," he said.
Duval said he hit more good shots than he expected and was disappointed when the second round came to an end.
SPENCER'S RIDE
He's a college student who just turned 20 this week, admits to anger management problems and smokes a pack of cigarettes a day.
On Thursday he made the only hole-in-one of this US Open. And, for a while Friday, Spencer Levin had another claim to fame -- he was on the US Open leaderboard.
With his father on his bag, Levin chainsmoked his way around Shinnecock Hills and up the leaderboard before a few stumbles at the end left him at 2-over 142.
Still, Levin is playing on the weekend, not bad for a former high school baseball player who won his California high school state golf championship while playing only once a week as a sophomore.
"I'm just trying to think of it as another tournament, even though it's the US Open," Levin said.
Levin's father, Dan, played in the 1983 Open, missing the cut. When his son decided to quit baseball and concentrate on golf, he was there to teach him. Levin plays for the University of New Mexico.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I'm going to go talk a police officer into shooting me." -- Charles Howell III when asked what he would do during the afternoon while waiting to see if his 5-over 145 would make the cut. It did.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS