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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida - American golfer Phil Mickelson put behind him a day of scrambling and poor driving by spectacularly eagling the par-five 16th to snatch a one-shot lead in the second round of the Players Championship today.
Mickelson, joint pacesetter overnight with South African Rory Sabbatini, fired a level par 72 in blazing afternoon sunshine and swirling breezes at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass.
While world No 1 Tiger Woods flirted with missing a PGA Tour cut for only the fifth time, Mickelson recovered from four bogeys in eight holes around the turn to finish on five-under 139.
Unheralded Australian Nathan Green birdied two of the last five holes for a 69 to occupy second place with compatriots Peter Lonard, 72, and Rod Pampling, 71, another further stroke back in a tie for third.
Also at three-under were American Sean O'Hair, 69, and Swede Carl Pettersson, 71.
New Zealand in the tournament interest waned when Michael Campbell and Craig Perks both missed the second round cut, which was made at 149.
Perks, who famously won this prestigious tournament in 2002, finished on 151 after shooting 76 today, while Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion, also heady for the exit gate early when his 79 today left him on 154.
Mickelson, who opened with a 67 in yesterday's windswept first round, was one off the pace with three holes to play before leapfrogging Green with his timely eagle on 16.
The three-time major winner struck a superb six iron from 190m to within seven feet of the flag and coolly rolled in the curling left-to-right putt.
He then parred the last two holes to retain control on a challenging course running fast and firm.
"I didn't play well enough to shoot a low score but fought hard to keep it around even par," Mickelson said after needing only 23 putts.
"I'll gladly take 72."
The two-time Masters champion, whose card also featured four bogeys and two birdies, conceded the importance of his short game after missing eight fairways out of 14, and 12 of 18 greens in regulation.
"I didn't put myself in some great spots so relied on my short game to keep me in it," Mickelson said.
"My misses today were a lot bigger than they were the first day. But I'm pleased heading into the weekend to top the leaderboard and hopefully I'll turn it around."
Green, who made the cut in 24 of 30 starts as a PGA Tour rookie last year, was delighted with his scrambling abilities.
"I didn't drive it well but just managed to sort of scrap around and came out with a good round," said Green, 31, who worked in a crematorium managed by his parents after he left school.
"It's such a tough course, whether the wind is blowing or not. It's all about trying to limit the big numbers which you can have quite easily here.
"I made a lot of good par saves today," added the Australian, who produced one of only 11 sub-70 scores on a day when the average was 73.389.
Woods, one stroke outside the projected cut line with three holes to play, birdied the par-five 16th en route to a 73.
That left him on four-over 148 and among 79 players who qualified for the weekend when the guillotine finally fell at five over.
Among those missing out were former European No 1 Colin Montgomerie, 2005 winner Fred Funk and defending champion Stephen Ames, of Canada.
"No doubt about it, if you're fighting the cut line, you don't really have your best stuff," Woods said after a round that included three bogeys and two birdies.
"I just need to get myself into red numbers (under par) for the tournament by day's end tomorrow. Obviously I have to make a lot more birdies than I've made the first two days."
Woods, who has won nine times on the PGA Tour in his last 12 starts, has registered only two birdies at Sawgrass, both of them coming in today's second round.
Sabbatini, who ran up a quadruple bogey seven at the notorious 17th after twice finding water, dropped back into a tie for 38th after carding a 79.
- REUTERS
