Mickelson surges in second round

DUBLIN, Ohio — Muirfield Village Golf Club is not an amusement park, but Phil Mickelson has spent the first two rounds of the Memorial on a roller coaster.

Mickelson, in his opening round Thursday, looked like he was going to charge to the early lead after going 4-under through his first eight holes. He played his final 11 holes at six over, however, and finished with a 74.

So Mickelson began Friday’s second round one shot on the wrong side of the cut line and promptly bogeyed his second hole of the round, the par-5 11th, to fall to 3-over for the tournament. With a birdie on No. 13 and a bogey on 17, Mickelson walked to the 18th tee 3-over and two shots off the cut line.

Beginning with a birdie on 18, he played his final 11 holes in 7-under and closed the day 4-under for the tournament after shooting 66, going from possibly missing the cut to being in contention.

“I’ve been a little bit up-anddown,’’ Mickelson said. “I just lost focus [Thursday] and when I’m not really focused I just make some sloppy swings and make some big numbers. I just came out today, tried to just be sharp, and didn’t get off to the greatest start. I hit a couple of tough shots early on, but the back nine was nice.’’

Mickelson, who’s working toward the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in two weeks, called his game “close’’ to where he wants it to be and said he’s “working on fine-tuning, hitting the right shots, course management, just staying sharp and trying to shoot a number.’’

He cautioned his hot run Friday was “only nine holes,’’ and added, “I don’t want to put too much into it.’’

“But it’s nice to have played well enough to make the cut, be able to play the weekend, keep working on my game and hopefully get sharper and sharper,’’ he said. “The challenge for me is I feel like my game and ball striking and all those things are sharp, but I haven’t been sharp with my focus and picking a shot. I haven’t been as committed, I haven’t seen it as clearly. Obviously, the last nine I played I was sharp. But I’ve got to do that every single shot, because out here the penalty is so great for a miss.’’