Mickelson Makes It Exciting

With flair, a few flops and a game plan for which he makes no apologies, Phil Mickelson jumped right back into contention in the Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

He played 25 holes on Friday in even par, but don’t get the idea it was a conservative, plodding style he finds so unacceptable. After finishing a first-round 64, he was 11 strokes higher in the second round.

When his long and exciting day ended, Mickelson was at five-under-par 139, trailing clubhouse leader Carl Paulson by one shot when play was suspended by darkness.

“If I change the way I play golf, I won’t enjoy the game as much and I won’t play to the level I have been playing,” Mickelson said. “I won’t ever change--not tomorrow, not Sunday or at Augusta or the U.S. Open, or any tournament.

“I may never win a major that way, but it doesn’t matter to me. That’s how I play my best golf.”

Paulson had his second 69 and was at 138, unknown territory for a 31-year-old who has never won on the PGA Tour.

Craig Perks had a 68 and was at 139. Jeff Sluman also was at five under with two holes remaining when he returns today--starting with the terrorizing island-green 17th.

In whipping wind that began to dry out the greens and bring indecision into just about every shot, no one managed to run away from the field--36 players were within five shots of the lead.

Tiger Woods was among them. Despite chopping out from thick rough and making bogey on the 18th hole, Woods had a 72 and was one under.

“Anything under par, you’re going to be moving up,” Woods said.

The cut will not be made until today, but even those who barely qualify for the final two rounds probably will be only eight strokes behind. That could set up a tight finish, perhaps a weekend of survival if the wind continues to howl.

*

Juli Inkster shot out of the pack with an eight-under 64, good for a three-shot lead over Dorothy Delasin and Nancy Scranton in the Welch’s-Circle K Championship.

No stranger to the interview tent at Randolph Park, Inkster won one of her 26 LPGA titles in Tucson in 1999, finished third--one stroke out of a playoff between Annika Sorenstam and Pat Hurst--the next and tied for seventh last year.

Historically, she has charged from behind, with final-round scores of 65, 64 and 67, respectively, the last three years. This time, Inkster’s fast start put her at 14-under 130, a 36-hole Tucson record that is three strokes better than Sorenstam’s pace last year, when she finished at a record 23 under.

Delasin and Scranton started the round a shot behind first-round leader Ashli Bunch and posted matching 68s.