Phil Mickelson fired a seven-under 64 to seize a four-shot second-round lead on Friday at the US$6.2 million Northern Trust Open.
Mickelson's 10-under total of 132 put him four ahead of Australian Robert Allenby and fellow American Jeff Quinney as play was halted by darkness for the second straight day.
Six players remained on the golf course when play was stopped, and were to complete their rounds yesterday morning. Once the cut is established, the third round was to get underway.
Allenby, who won this event in 2001, carded a second-round 66 to join Quinney (67) on 136.
A group of five players, Scott McCarron, Chad Campbell, Scott Verplank, Vaughn Taylor and Billy Mayfair, were five adrift.
South Korea's K.J. Choi, the first-round leader after a 65, shot a second-round 73 and was in a group six shots off the pace.
Mickelson, who began the second round three shots behind Choi, posted his best career round at this tournament on the par-71 Riviera Country Club layout.
His previous best was a 65 last year, when he ended up losing to Charles Howell in a playoff.
"On the West Coast, this is a tournament that's eluded me and I've tried very hard to win," Mickelson said. "I had a good chance last year and let it slip away. I'm hoping to have a good weekend here because this tournament means a lot to me."
Mickelson's round included several long birdie putts, one of them a 60-footer at the fifth that gave him a share of the lead.
"It was a good day," Mickelson said. "I made a lot of putts. A lot of putts went in and shots ended up close."
He took sole possession of the lead with a birdie at nine and never gave it up.
"I hit it a lot better than I did yesterday," Mickelson said. "I'm putting a lot a better. I'm hitting a lot of good putts. I'm reading them well, my speed is a lot better."
Mickelson, who missed the cut at Pebble Beach last week, said he thought his game was coming around.
"I felt like my game has been really close, but I haven't quite put it together yet," he said. "It started to come together, but we still have two more rounds, so hopefully I'll keep improving on the way I'm striking it and the way I'm putting it."
Quinney's second straight round in the 60s put him in the final group with Mickelson and Allenby -- his first time to play competitively with Mickelson.
"I definitely looked at the leaderboard coming down the last nine holes," Quinney said. "I was right up there and saw Phil was up there. He's a top player in the world and [I'm] looking forward to the challenge."
Despite Mickelson's cushion, Allenby said he could be caught.
"If Phil is at 10-under, that's fine, there's a long way to go," Allenby said.
"There's still 36 holes to go and a lot of birdies out there. I've made plenty of birdies here before, so there's no reason why I can't do it on the weekend," he said.
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