LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson followed up his spectacular first-round 60 with a four-under par 68 on Friday to hold a two-shot lead after two rounds of the Desert Classic.
Mickelson birdied four of his last five holes on the Nicklaus Tournament course, one of three par-72 layouts in use in the US PGA Tour tournament in the California desert east of Los Angeles.
He overcame a double-bogey six at the par-four 18th – his ninth of the day which saw him make the turn at even par for the round.
Mickelson’s 16-under total of 128 put him two strokes in front of Australian rookie Curtis Luck, who grabbed his eighth birdie of the day at his final hole – the ninth – to post a 66 on the Nicklaus course and a 14-under par total of 130.
Canadian Adam Hadwin and American Steve Marino shared third on 131.
Marino had five birdies and an eagle hole-in-one on the par-three seventh on the way to a seven-under par 65 at the La Quinta course.
Hadwin had seven birdies and one bogy in a 66 at La Quinta, where Mickelson fashioned his 60 a day earlier.
“I actually felt better striking it but I didn’t putt very well today, certainly relative to yesterday where I was making everything,’’ Mickelson said. “But I finished strong, birdied four of the last five.
Mickelson, playing his first tournament of 2019, called it a ‘’fun, if not surprising, start’’ to his year.
“It’s fun to be in the mix,’’ said Mickelson, whose two-round total is the second-best of his career, behind the 36-hole total of 125 to start the 2013 Phoenix Open.
Mickelson appeared to be picking up where he left off with back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes, but his approach at the 18th found the water and he took a double bogey.
KEEP FIRING
An eight-foot birdie putt at the fifth sparked a string of three straight birdies and he picked up one more shot at the ninth.
“I turned a round that was not very good into a respectable round,’’ said Mickelson, although he admitted that he would have liked to be even lower heading into a third round on the tougher Stadium course.
