SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Phil Mickelson made it to the weekend in the Phoenix Open. Another left-hander and a fellow former Arizona State player set the pace.
A week after withdrawing from Torrey Pines because of back pain, Mickelson shot a 4-under 67 in his afternoon round Friday at cool and breezy TPC Scottsdale. The defending champion was eight strokes behind leaders Bubba Watson and Matt Jones.
“I’m not totally out of it,” Mickelson said. “Obviously, heading into the weekend I’d like to be closer, but as we have seen in the past there is that 8-, 9-, 10-, in some cases 11-under-par round out there.”
Indeed, the three-time champion has shot 11-under60 twice in the event, in the second round in his 2005 victory and last year in the first round.
Watson, the long-hitting left-hander who won the 2012 Masters, followed his opening 64 with a 66 to reach 12 under. Jones, the Australian who played at Arizona State and lives in Scottsdale, had his second consecutive 65.
“It’s right where I want to be going into the weekend,” Watson said.
The 43-year-old Mickelson felt soreness in his back two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi and pulled out at Torrey Pines after making the 36-hole cut. He flew to Georgia to see back specialist Tom Boers and was told his facet joints locked up.
“My back feels great,” Mickelson said. “Like I said, it was a simple fix. I just don’t want to overdo it.”
He saved par with a 12-footer on the par-5 15th hole after hitting his second shot into the water. On Thursday in his opening 71, he reached the green in two and three-putted for par from about the same distance.
“Very difficult conditions to go really low,” Mickelson said.
Harris English and Greg Chalmers shot 67 to reach 10 under, and Pat Perez, Kevin Stadler and Hideki Matsuyama were 9 under. Matsuyama had a 67, and Perez and Stadler shot 68.
Watson opened with a birdie on the par-4 10th. In 50-degree conditions with the wind hours away on the cloudy day when it barely reached the mid-60s, he hit a 315-yard drive to set up a 70-yard shot that he hit to 4 feet.
“Back is not as loose as you want it to be, weather is not as warm as you want it to be,” Watson said. “But I hit a good tee shot, and then I hit my wedge in there close and I made the putt. … That got me going.”
Wearing lime green shoes and an otherwise all-black outfit, Watson bogeyed the par-3 seventh after driving right. He made a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-4 eighth and closed with a bogey on the par-4 ninth after a wedge shot spun off the green.
“I had two sloppy bogeys coming down the stretch, but I will take it,” Watson said.
Jones birdied four of his last six holes. He also played in the morning.
“We definitely got the good side of the draw,” Jones said.
Brandt Snedeker had the best round of the day, a 64 in the morning to reach 8 under.
La Quinta winner Patrick Reed also was 8 under after his second 67. Playing alongside Watson, Reed hit to within a foot for a birdie on the par-3 16th stadium hole.
Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) had four birdies for a 4-under 67 (137). Bryce Molder (Conway) had four birdies and four bogeys for an even-par round of 71 (138). David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) had five birdies and two bogeys for a 3-under 68 (140).
EUROPEAN PGA
McIlroy retakes lead
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Rory McIlroy hit wedge into 5 feet for birdie on the 18th hole for a 2-under 70 to regain the outright lead in the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.
The chief challenge for McIlroy came from an American - but it wasn’t Tiger Woods.
Brooks Koepka, who earned his European Tour card last year by winning three times on the Challenge Tour, made seven birdies against no bogeys for a 65 that left him one shot behind McIlroy going into the weekend.
Woods, meanwhile, hit only four fairways and had to rely on some key putts to salvage a 73. He was in a tie for 44th, eight shots out of the lead.
McIlroy was at 11-under 133.
He appeared to be in control at Emirates Golf Club, leading by three shots after his birdie at No. 10. But he drove wildly into the waste area on the par-5 13th and the par-4 16th holes, both leading to bogeys, before recovering on the 18th.
Danny Willett of England had a 65 and shared third place with Damien McGrane of Ireland (70) and Julien Quesne of France (70).
John Daly (Dardanelle, Arkansas Razorbacks) had two birdies for a 2-under 70 (144), but did not make the cut.
Leaderboard PHOENIX OPEN At TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Par 71 Matt Jones ..........................65-65-130 Bubba Watson .....................64-66-130 Greg Chalmers ....................65-67-132 Harris English ......................65-67-132 Hideki Matsuyama ..............66-67-133 Pat Perez .............................65-68-133 Kevin Stadler .......................65-68-133 William McGirt ....................65-69-134 Brandt Snedeker .................70-64-134 Patrick Reed ........................67-67-134 Scott Piercy .........................67-67-134 Morgan Hoffmann ..............69-66-135 Martin Laird .........................67-68-135 Jason Kokrak ......................66-69-135 ARKANSANS Ken Duke .............................70-67-137 Bryce Molder .......................67-71-138 David Lingmerth .................72-68-140 Complete results, Page 5C
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/01/2014