Phil Mickelson made a mess of his final hole in the second round of the Phoenix Open, costing him another shot at history.
A day after his putt for a 59 curled 180 degrees and stay out, Lefty missed a chance to break the PGA Tour’s 36-hole scoring record yesterday at the TPC of Scottsdale, Ariz., when he finished with a double bogey.
“You always remember kind of the last hole, the last putt,” Mickelson said. “But I think it’s very possible that’s going to help me because it’s got me refocused, that I cannot ease up on a single shot.”
Mickelson followed his opening 60 with a 65 to reach 17-under 125, a stroke off the tour record for the first two rounds of a tournament set by Pat Perez in the 2009 Bob Hope Classic and matched by David Toms at Colonial in 2011.
Mickelson’s drive on No. 18 bounced into the left-side water hazard. After a penalty drop, he still had a chance to get up down for par and the record, but his approach shot rolled off the front edge of the green. His chip ran 7 feet past, and his bogey putt slid by to the left, leaving him with a share of the Phoenix Open 36-hole record set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001.
“I hit a good shot, I thought,” Mickelson said. “I tried to start it right down the middle and hold it into the wind. It just leaked a little bit left. I still thought it was up. … Then I hit a poor wedge from there. But the tee shot I didn’t think was going to be in the water at any point.”
The double bogey left him four strokes ahead of Bill Haas and five in front of Keegan Bradley and Brandt Snedeker.
Dubai Desert Classic
Richard Sterne sank a birdie on 18 to take a one-shot lead over Danish youngster Thorbjorn Olesen and two others after the second round in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Sergio Garcia pulled to within three of Sterne despite struggling with shoulder problems that required treatment midway through his round.