Mickelson Widens Role as Leading Man

The weather changed Friday, but the leader didn’t, which was all that mattered to Phil Mickelson. His 67 at drippy Poppy Hills put him four shots ahead of the pack after two rounds of the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Mickelson shot a five-under-par 31 over his first nine holes and steered himself through the last nine at par, lengthening his margin from a three-shot first-round lead to four after 36 holes, with Mike Weir closest.

In backing up his opening round of 62 in Thursday’s sun, Mickelson reached 15-under 129, breaking the 36-hole tournament record by two shots. And now, he has the largest 36-hole lead of his 15-year career.

“I do know I’ve got to push it and try to get as big a lead as I can,” said Mickelson, who plays at Pebble Beach today. “The key for me will be to get off to a quick start because the first seven holes are all birdie holes and you need to get three or four in that stretch.”

There’s still a long way to go, but Mickelson is a front-runner again, just as he was last week at Scottsdale, where he led by four shots going into the last round and won by five. He’s clearly the man to beat.

Darren Clarke, who threw a 66 at Pebble Beach, acknowledged that somebody would have to put on a charge.

“I think we’ll need a very fast carriage to catch him,” Clarke said.

Weir birdied the last three holes at Pebble Beach and said he was confident that he was within range of Mickelson, no matter how solidly the guy who shot 62 a day earlier might be playing.

“Anything can happen around here,” Weir said. “Especially at Pebble Beach, if you get a really good feeling, get a good feel on the greens, get off to a hot start as Davis Love did a few years ago, you can get on that kind of roll and come back from a long way back.”

Before Mickelson clears his throat to practice his trophy acceptance speech, maybe he should take a deep breath. Recent history shows that Weir is right.

In 2001, Love made up seven shots on Mickelson and Olin Browne on the last day and won by a shot with a 63.

The year before, Tiger Woods was seven shots behind Matt Gogel with seven holes to play and beat him by two shots, finishing with a 64.

Mickelson sounded upbeat and seemed relaxed after his day at Poppy Hills, where the elevated pins on the top shelves of the greens made it hard for him to stop the ball close to the hole for birdie chances.

“I really didn’t have any great chances,” he said.

Weir has had some great chances at Pebble Beach in the last five years, with four top-10 finishes.

Two of the players tied for third, Andrew Magee and Paul Goydos, are in contention despite recent medical problems.

Magee, who shot 68 at Spyglass Hill, didn’t play at all last year after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs and repair an Achilles’ tendon. Goydos, who played only twice last year because of sinus surgery, a torn hip muscle and a hand injury, felt well enough to shoot 68 at Pebble Beach.

They’re tied with Kevin Sutherland, who shot a two-under 70 at Pebble Beach, at nine-under 135. Clarke, Arjun Atwal, Kent Jones, Charles Howell III and Greg Owen are tied for sixth at 136.

If it was a difficult yearlong healing process for the 42-year-old Magee, a 20-year-veteran who so far has two top-10 finishes, his comeback has surprised even himself. He wasn’t always sure he could play again after the surgery and even considered other employment opportunities.

“Carpools or maybe TV analyst,” Magee said. “But I’m here today. I’m not really believing it, either.”

Goydos is playing on a major medical extension, but the Long Beach native didn’t necessarily hate being sidelined for most of last year because he got to spend more time with his children, Chelsea, 14, and Courtney, 12.

From his position, Goydos is looking up at Mickelson and still admiring the 62 that Mickelson shot Thursday at Spyglass Hill.

“He’s got that talent advantage,” Goydos said. “When you show up at this event, you don’t factor 62 into your thinking. That’s unfathomable to me. When a player like that is playing like that, it makes it a little difficult for us.”

It’s going to be especially difficult for Vijay Singh -- and that’s simply to make the cut.

Singh, the defending champion and top-ranked player in the world, followed his 73 at Spyglass with another one at Poppy Hills, considered the easiest course of the three at this event. He had a 40 on his back nine.

Singh is at two over after 36 holes, tied for 129th place, and figures to need at least a 68 at Pebble Beach today to make the cut.

While Singh is struggling, Mickelson is rolling.

The left-hander has either held the lead or been tied for it in 17 previous tournaments after 36 holes and he has won nine of them, but only once -- last week at Scottsdale -- in his last six.