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By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

NORTON, Mass. -- Phil Mickelson was headed for Fenway Park Saturday night to see the Boston Red Sox play the Baltimore Orioles.

Phil Mickelson said coach Butch Harmon has helped him play better with Tiger Woods. (AP)

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The difference between Phil Mickelson on Friday and Phil Mickelson on Saturday at TPC Boston

Category Friday Saturday Score 70 64 To Par -1 -7 Birdies 2 5 Driving Accuracy 71 86 Putts 29 26 GIR percentage 72 78

• Phil's card, click here

VIDEO

• Mickelson chips for eagle

It's hard to imagine him having any more fun there than he did earlier Saturday at TPC Boston in the second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Playing in the marquee pairing of the tournament -- and perhaps, the year -- Mickelson fired a 64 that moved him to 8 under and one stroke off the lead held jointly by Aaron Baddeley, Rich Beem and Mike Weir at the midway point of the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

One of Mickelson's playing partners, defending champ Tiger Woods, matched that 64 and stands 6 under through 36 holes. Vijay Singh, the third member of the group, managed to put together a 66 that pulled him from near oblivion to 2 under.

What a difference a day makes. The three were a combined 19 under on Saturday compared with 3 over in the first round.

"We certainly had a good time," Mickelson said. "I think this is what we were hoping for and kind of expecting yesterday. It was actually I thought a little more challenging day today with the cooler air and the breeze, but the greens were so perfect that you felt you could make a lot of putts.

"I certainly made a decent amount of par saving putts as well as some birdie putts, and so did everybody else in the group, and that led to some low scores."

Mickelson set the tone when he chipped in for birdie at the par-4 15th, which was his sixth hole of the day. That sparked an eight-hole stretch that saw Mickelson make five birdies and an eagle, and then he coasted home with a string of five more pars.

"I didn't make many early on, but I made a couple around the turn and had that one little stretch there," he said. "I think I was 7 under through eight holes, and that kind of was the round for me."

Mickelson, who ranks fifth in the FedExCup standings, joked that "Tiger got a little upset there." So the game's No. 1 player started a spurt of his own at No. 2, playing his next six holes in 6 under -- including an eagle at the drivable par-4 fourth.

"It was fun. You know, Vijay played great and Tiger and myself played well," Mickelson said. "I'm hoping if we both play well tomorrow, we'll have a great chance to be paired together in the last group on Monday."

With the exception of the ninth hole on Friday, Mickelson has played extremely well this week. The man who ranks 182nd in driving accuracy on TOUR has been very steady off the tee, hitting all but six fairways, and has found 27 of 36 greens in the first two rounds.

"The biggest thing for me has been driving, and unfortunately I hit one bad drive yesterday that led to a triple," Mickelson said. "But other than that, playing from the fairways allowed me to play aggressively to these pins and be thinking birdie on every hole rather than fighting for par."

Mickelson said he had a feeling he and Woods and Singh would play well on Saturday. He actually didn't think they played that poorly in the first round, but the breaks just didn't seem to fall in their favor.

"But I just sensed that everybody was going to come out ready today because we all needed a good round to get back in the tournament, and that's what we ended up doing," Mickelson said.

His recent work with Butch Harmon has done more than simply straighten out his swing, too. Mickelson indicated the counsel of Harmon, who used to be Woods' instructor, has helped him play more relaxed with the game's No. 1 player.

"In the past I haven't really played that well with Tiger per se," Mickelson said. "But he told me a couple things that he likes to do, and I kind of was watching for it, and I chuckled throughout the round when I'd pick up on it.

"I think that working with Butch has really helped me understand how to get my best golf when I play in the same group as Tiger, and I'm hoping I have a chance to do that on Monday."

Mickelson simply grinned when asked to share what Harmon told him.

"I'm not even going to go there," he said. "Just a couple things that have been very interesting, and certainly the stories have been great. ... And it's really helped because I find myself chuckling at it now and played much more relaxed and had a good time today."