Mickelson slips to eight shots back

A week after withdrawing from Torrey Pines because of back pain, Phil Mickelson shot a four-under 67 Friday to make it to the weekend at the Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., but the defending champion was eight strokes behind leaders Bubba Watson and Matt Jones.

“I’m not totally out of it,” Mickelson said. “Obviously, heading into the weekend, I’d like to be closer, but as we have seen in the past, there is that eight-, nine-, 10-, in some cases 11-under-par round out there.”

Mickelson, a three-time champion at Phoenix, has shot 11-under 60 twice in the event, in the second round in his 2005 victory and last year in the first round. Watson, the 2012 Masters champion, shot a 66 Friday to reach 12-under 130. Jones had his second straight 65.

Rory McIlroy birdied the 18th hole for a two-under 70 to regain the lead at 11-under 133 in the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates. Brooks Koepka made seven birdies for a 65 that left him one shot back. Tiger Woods hit only four fairways and ended up with a 73, eight shots back.

New Zealand’s Stacey Tate stole the limelight from compatriot Lydia Ko by shooting a four-under 68 to share the lead with South Korea’s Seon Woo Bae after the opening round of the New Zealand Women’s Open at Christchurch.

Tate led outright after birdies at six of the first seven holes on her back nine, but bogeys at the last two holes brought her back into a tie with Bae in the Ladies’ European Tour event. Ko returned to New Zealand after finishing seventh at the latest LPGA tour stop in the Bahamas and was among a group of five players on 69, one shot behind the leading pair.