LA JOLLA, Calif. — For several precarious minutes Friday, it looked like Phil Mickelson was going to miss the cut at his home event.
When Mickelson failed to get up and down from a bunker on the back of the 18th green on the Torrey Pines South Course, finishing with bogey to stand at 1-under par for the tournament, the cut line looked like it was going to get to 2-under.
So a missed seven-foot par putt on the 18th green looked like it might send him home, which is just minutes away from the golf course. But Mickelson got a reprieve when the cut stayed at 1-under, so he will play on the weekend.
“The cut was the last thing on my mind,’’ Mickelson, who had it as low as 3-under, said. “I was trying to make one or two birdies to get within striking distance if I shot a low round [Saturday]. Making bogey on the last two holes kind of hurt.” “I’m just a fraction off. I just don’t feel great. I’ve thrown a lot of shots away on the greens, and my iron play has not been as good as it has been heading into the start of the year.’
* One of the best stories on the leaderboard is Erik Compton, who’s three shots out of the lead after shooting a 7-under-par 65. Compton is on his third heart after having two heart transplants.
Compton needed only 22 putts in his round.
“You know, sometimes the ball goes in,’’ he said. “Being from Miami, I’m used to Bermuda greens [the greens at Torrey Pines are poa annua]. My caddy [Ron Levin] and I worked really hard on the greens together, and just trusted the lineI didn’t drive the ball particularly well for the first two days, but out here if you miss it big enough, you can still make some pars and birdies.’’
* Billy Horschel and Casey Wittenberg will play in the final group with Tiger Woods today. Horschel, who’s 9-under and in second place, said he has never been paired with Woods.
“I know there are going to be crowds, [but] it’s nothing that I haven’t dealt with before,’’ he said “I’ve played the Walker Cup in 2007 over in Northern Ireland at Royal County Down and there was a guy I competed against three times called Rory McIlroy. So there may have been 12,000 people following us, and only a couple thousand following the rest of the group. So I’ve dealt with crowds.’’
****
Former Masters winner Mike Weir made his first cut since July 2011 when he closed at 3-under par. Weir, who shot 66 on Thursday and hung on with a 75 yesterday, had missed 17 consecutive cuts. … Keegan Bradley and his fellow St. John’s alum Andrew Svoboda, both missed the cut as did Wyckoff, N.J.’s Morgan Hoffman.