Hot start, steady finish propels Mickelson up leaderboard

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For the record, he's nearly 100 percent right now.

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So Phil Mickelson can finally focus on his golf game, not the turmoil in his tummy that sidelined him during the pro-am, and see if he can make the Quail Hollow Championship his second straight win.

Mickelson shot 68 in Friday's second round to move within two strokes of the lead held by fellow Arizona State alum Billy Mayfair. He's 6 under through 36 holes on a golf course where he's already got four top-10 finishes in six starts.

It's all part of the plan.

"I want to try to improve each round," Mickelson explained. "I feel like I played well (in the) first round. I scored a little bit better today, didn't probably hit it as great. The weekend, though, I'm feeling much better.

"I should be 100 percent, and will hopefully have time to work on my game, get a little practice in and shoot lower scores."

Starting on No. 10 in the fifth group of the day, Mickelson immediately began to take advantage of the morning's pristine conditions. He went out in a sizzling 32 that included an 8-foot eagle putt at No. 15 and a birdie he called a "bonus" on the intimidating and water-locked 17th he had bogeyed in the first round.

At that point, though, as they say here in NASCAR country, Mickelson's round stalled -- but at least he didn't blow a tire or anything like that. Ten pars may have followed but Lefty couldn't be too disappointed with his position when he signed his card.

"It was a good front nine for me," Mickelson said. "... When I made the turn, I didn't hit some very good shots, and I had a couple of opportunities to make birdies on the par 5s and didn't take advantage of it.

"But I'll certainly take 4 under par. I'll take being 6 under heading into the weekend and having a good chance."

Indeed. The Masters champion is starting to play again like the man who ended 2009 like a man possessed with wins at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

The inconsistency that marked the beginning of the season is gone. When Mickelson won his third Green Jacket in his eighth start of the year, it was the deepest he'd gone into the season without a victory since 2003.

All that's in the past, though. And when someone asked Mickelson if he'd gotten impatient with himself this year he flashed his most innocent grin.

"What do you mean?" he said, wide-eyed and playful. "(The season) just started three weeks ago."

The Masters was Mickelson's fourth major championship. He's won his start before one of those victories but never the one following. Of course, there's a first time for everything and when the birdies stopped coming on Friday, Lefty was at his escape-artist best to preserve the bogey-free round.

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Mickelson finished his round with 10 pars in a row.

He drove into the trees at the 16th but -- not unlike he did at the Masters on Sunday -- hooked a 6-iron off the pine straw back into the fairway and got up and down for par. He made a 7-footer for another after missing the green at No. 18. And then there was that 3-footer at No. 1 after another visit to the North Carolina pines.

"Those par saves kept the round going because I hit a couple of wayward shots today," Mickelson said. "It wasn't my best ball-striking round by far, and yet I was able to keep the momentum of the round."

Mickelson's putting touch has returned, too. He's played this week under the watchful eye of Dave Stockton, who helped affect the resurgence in the lefthander's flat stick last year. Mickelson one-putted nine greens on Friday and used just 27 total.

"The thing about my putting now is that I have very good direction,'" Mickelson said. "Not only does it feel good and I'm putting well and making putts, but I feel like I have good direction to where I miss some or don't hit them know, I know what I did wrong and am able to fix it."

Mickelson, who tied for fifth at last year's Quail Hollow Championship, is clearly the favorite of the crowd. When he finished his interviews Fridays, fans five-deep against the fence called his name and beseeched Mickelson to pull out his Sharpie which he quickly obliged.

Jim Furyk, who played with Mickelson in the first two rounds, was up-close-and-personal with the adoring crowd. He even joined his playing partner in acknowledging the fans with fist-bumps here and there.

"It's interesting," Furyk said. "Everyone's leaning out and wants a touch and wants a piece. He gets a very good reception. I think he handles it well, too. He spends some time to smile and talk to people. I think he handles it very well."

Not unlike he's handled Quail Hollow so far this week.