Phil Mickelson took sole control of the lead midway through the second round of the US PGA Championship on Friday, shooting a 5-under 65 that put him three shots clear atop the leaderboard.
Mickelson was one of six players to shoot a 67 in the opening round and another 11 players were one stroke back. When Mickelson finished the second round he was at 8-under 132, three shots in front of Jerry Kelly, who matched his 65 as the best rounds of the tournament.
Rory Sabbatini, who had a 69, and Davis Love III and Lee Westwood, who had 68s, were at 136.
PHOTO: EPA
Greg Owen (69), Stuart Appleby (70), Vijay Singh and Jesper Parnevik (69) were all at 137.
Tiger Woods was nowhere near the lead but he will be playing on the weekend thanks a birdie on his final hole.
Woods put himself in danger of missing the cut for the first time in a major, making four bogeys -- including three in a row -- and two birdies in his front nine to fall three shots above the projected cut line for the low 70 and ties.
PHOTO: AFP
But Woods, who won this tournament in 1999 and 2000, made three birdies in a five-hole stretch to get to 4-over 144, the cut number.
"I got through somehow," he said. "I grinded it out the best I could all day."
Mickelson opened his second round with a 5-under 31 on his front side, capped by an 18-foot eagle putt on the 550-yard 18th at the 7,392-yard Lower Course at Baltusrol Golf Club.
PHOTO: REUTERS
He also had seven birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey in the round.
"What I was most proud of today was that when I did make a mistake, I let it go," he said. "When I made the double [bogey] on 1, I came back with birdies on 3 and 5. I bogeyed 6 and birdied 8. I let go of some bad shots, forgot about it and moved on."
Mickelson, the 2004 US Masters champion, hasn't finished better than 10th in any major this year. He was 10th in the Masters, tied for 33rd in the US Open and tied for 60th in the British Open.
"I did the same thing I did preparing for this week as I did for the previous three majors this year and all four last year," he said.
"I'm feeling very confident after the first two rounds but there's a lot of golf left."
Unlike his first round, when he made three birdie putts of more than 30 feet, Mickelson was able to get his approach shots closer despite missing fairways off the tee.
Mickelson's first birdie was from 4 feet on No. 11 and his second, on No. 13, was a foot closer but came after a great shot from a fairway bunker.
He made a birdie from No. 14 after hitting into the left rough off the tee. His lone bogey of the back nine was on the 16th when he missed a 5-foot par putt after hitting into a bunker.
He ended with a flourish on the closing par-5s, the only two on the course.
He hit a sand wedge to 15 feet with his third shot on the 650-yard 17th, and then closed with the eagle.
Mickelson had a double-bogey 6 to open his second nine when he drove into the left rough, hit an 8-iron short of the green and then fluffed a chip shot.
He made up for half of that two holes later when he made a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 3. His last birdie of the day was a 25-footer on No. 8.
"I'm entering the last two rounds with more confidence than I've had in a while," Mickelson said.
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