After two days at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Phil "Lefty" Mickelson is tied for the lead (1-under par) at the famed U.S. Open with fellow American Billy Horschel. As the action heats up on Day 3, follow along live by clicking this link.
Mickelson was 3-under par heading into Day 2, but squandered sole possession of first place by shooting a 2-over 72 on Friday. Mickelson was struggling all day long, merely making par on the majority of the holes, and bogeying on three occasions. Lefty did birdie the final hole, which brought him some relief.
"It felt great. I wasn't expecting birdie there," Mickelson said. "It's a very difficult hole. I got shut out today. I played really well. Even though I shot 2 over, it was the birdie opportunities that I didn't capitalize on. Had I made one on 2 or that birdie on 8 or 9 or 11, I would have changed kind of the momentum of the round. I played well today even though I didn't feel the score was what I thought it should be."
Lurking in the background is Mickelson's longtime rival Tiger Woods, as well as Tiger's group member Rory McIlroy. Both golfers are at 3-over par, and are tied for 17th in the field. Woods got off to a nice start to the second round, notching birdies on the second and fourth holes, but hit some snags along the way. Woods bogeyed on holes 7, 14 and 18, breaking even for the day.
McIlroy was a bit more inconsistent than Woods, picking up four birdies to Woods' three, but also posting four bogeys. They both broke even, and shot 70 for the day.
The third member of their star-studded group, Adam Scott, fell off the pace badly and is at 7-over par. Scott bogeyed four straight holes, three through six, and had two more later in the round. He birdied just once, shooting a 5-over 75 for the day.
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