SCOTTSDALE, Arizona—Phil Mickelson missed a chance to break the PGA Tour’s 36-hole scoring record when he finished with a double bogey after driving into the water at the Phoenix Open on Friday.
Mickelson followed his opening 60 with a 65 to reach 17-under 125, one stroke off the tour record for the first two rounds of a tournament shared by Pat Perez and David Toms.
Mickelson did tie the Phoenix Open record set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001.
Bill Haas was second, four strokes back.
A day after missing a chance for a 59 when his 25-foot putt on the ninth lipped out, Mickelson managed to birdie that hole on Friday, one day too late.
This time it was the last hole of the day that cost him a record as his drive bounced into the water hazard to the left of the fairway.
“Unfortunately, I made a double on the last hole and didn’t finish the way I wanted to,” Mickelson said. “But it’s a good example of what can happen on this course. You can make a lot of birdies and eagles, make up a lot of ground, but there’s a lot of water and trouble there that if you misstep you can easily make bogeys and double.”
Even after finding the water, Mickelson still had a chance at the record. Following his penalty drop, he could have got a par, but he didn’t get enough on his approach shot, with the ball landing on the green and rolling off the front edge.
His chip got away from him a bit, running seven 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.”
The double bogey left him four strokes ahead of Haas (64) and five in front of Keegan Bradley (63) and Brandt Snedeker (66). AP