Mickelson, Woods going opposite directions
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – Friday was a day of extremes for two of golf’s biggest names at the PGA Championship.
Phil Mickelson set the tone at the top of the leaderboard. Tiger Woods provided the dramatics at the bottom.
Mickelson was the story of the morning, shooting 65 for the second round at Baltusrol. At 8-under par, he has a three-shot lead over Jerry Kelly (65 on Friday) and is four ahead of Davis Love III (68), Rory Sabbatini (69) and Lee Westwood (68).
Woods, meanwhile, flirted with an early exit during his afternoon round. He survived with a birdie on the par-5 18th to make the cut on the number at 4 over. But a round of 69 left him 12 shots behind Mickelson.
As a result, Woods will be one of the first players off the tee today.
“I’ll be setting the pins for Phil and the boys, make sure the dew is swept off and everything is nice and neat,” Woods said.
The tournament might be Mickelson’s to win. This is the largest lead he has enjoyed at the midway point in a major since the 1996 PGA, when he had a four-shot edge after Friday. But he had a terrible weekend at Valhalla, finishing in a tie for eighth.
Mickelson now has much more experience and, more important, he has a major title, having won the 2004 Masters. He badly wants to add another.
“Heading into this week, I felt I was getting some good work done and I came into this tournament with a lot more confidence,” Mickelson said.
It showed from the start Friday. Beginning on the back nine, he charged hard with birdies on 11, 13, and 14. He closed with an eagle on 18 for 31 on the back side.
The turning point came early on the front nine. Mickelson made a mess of the first hole with a double bogey, but instead of sliding, he bounced back with birdies on 3 and 5.
“That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of,” Mickelson said. “On this course, everybody is going to make mistakes, but sometimes it’s hard to forget about it and let it go. After I made double on 1, I was able to be patient and let it go and came back with birdies.”
Woods also had to rely on his resilience to avoid missing his first cut in a major as a professional. An opening-round 75 had him beginning the day at 5 over, and he dug a deeper hole by making the turn at 7 over.
Woods rebounded with birdies on 11 and 12. Another birdie on 15 left him on the cutline, with two par 5s ahead of him.
Woods seemed safe, but on the 650-yard, par-5 17th, he decided to go for the green in two with a 3-wood from 269 yards to the front. He hit it well, but his ball hung left and then took a terrible kick into a bunker, resulting in a bad lie. Woods wound up with bogey 6.
That left him on the wrong side of the line going to 18.
“I didn’t know what the number was until 18,” Woods said. “Steve (Williams, his caddy) told me I needed to make birdie on the last hole. I said, ‘All right, I can do that.’ “
Woods had little trouble hitting the par-5, 554-yard 18th in two, setting up a two-putt birdie. As he walked off the green, he shared a laugh with Williams.
“We had to disappoint you guys,” Woods said in the press room. “You just couldn’t write that article. I had to do it. Sorry.”
It will be quite a story if Woods gets back in contention and makes a run at the leaders. He knows he has considerable ground to cover if he is going to win his third major of the year.
“I need to shoot something that gets me into red figures for the tournament after day’s end (Saturday),” Woods said. “And then see how I end up and what number I have to shoot come Sunday. I need to shoot a great round.”
If anybody can do it, Woods can.
“He’s probably the one guy in the field who could shoot two rounds of 7 under and be in double digits,” Kelly said.
Mickelson insists he is not worried about Woods or anyone else at this point. With 36 holes left, he can’t afford to get ahead of himself.
“I don’t think the way I’ll play the course will be different being ahead as it would be being behind,” Mickelson said.