Wait and see for Mickelson

Phil Mickelson was today hoping he had done enough to keep his Open preparations on track in the Scottish Open.

Mickelson carded a second round 68, three under par, at soggy Loch Lomond, an improvement of eight shots on his opening round in the £2.2m (€3.2m) event.

But it still left the world number eight on two over par at the halfway stage and facing an anxious wait to see if he made the cut.

The left-hander was at least confident it would be good enough to give him the chance to play two more rounds before heading south for the Open at Sandwich on Monday.

“I played well today and had a potentially really low round with five birdies and an eagle but made a few too many bogeys,” the 33-year-old said. “Although I’m not really in the tournament I’ll have two more rounds to try and improve my position.

“I certainly wanted two more competitive rounds going into the Open championship.”

Mickelson looked certain for an early trip to Kent when he completed an opening 76 at 9:30pm last night and began his second round less than 11 hours later this morning with a bogey on the 11th, his second hole.

But the American hit back with birdies at two of his next three holes and also birdied the 17th to be out in 33, before dropping another shot at the first.

The big difference between the second and first rounds was illustrated at the next two holes however, which he had taken 13 shots to complete on Thursday courtesy of two double bogeys.

This time his drive stayed out of the marsh to the left of the second hole and he converted a birdie putt from 12 feet, and his approach to the par five third also stayed on dry land, finishing 15 feet from the flag to set up an eagle three – a total of six shots taken and seven less than yesterday.

“I drove the ball a lot better today, long and straight, so I was able to attack a lot of pins,” added Mickelson, who dropped shots at the sixth and eighth but birdied the seventh in between.

Playing partner Colin Montgomerie was in downbeat mood after his second round 70, complaining about the greens for the second day running after singing the courses praises on Wednesday.

“They were not very good, not much better than yesterday,” said Montgomerie, who felt he had ‘putted like an idiot’ on Thursday. “Only two birdies each day is not enough and proves I’m not putting well enough. “I’ve hit 28 fairways out of 28 and most of the greens, but two-putted most greens. I can’t win with two birdies a round and I will have to try and address it.”

At one under par, Montgomerie was one shot behind overnight leader Ernie Els who had just started his second round.

The South African looked in superb form ahead of the defence of his Open title next week, and enjoyed a two-shot lead over Wales’ Bradley Dredge – in the clubhouse after a 68 – and Swindon’s David Howell who had played three holes.

There had been a number of withdrawals and retirements this morning, most notably Retief Goosen and Ian Woosnam pulling out citing back injuries.

European number one Goosen pulled out after three holes of his second round, a run of bogey-par-triple bogey leaving the South African nine over par for the tournament.

And in the following match Woosnam did the same, the Welshman taking his triple bogey on the 10th to be six over.

Woosnam finished third in the Open two years ago after being penalised two shots for having 15 clubs in his bag at the start of the final round, but will have to qualify this year on Sunday and Monday – fitness permitting.

“I’m not sure how bad it is, but I’ll get treatment over the next two days and hopefully be okay for qualifying,” Woosnam told the Press Association.

Norway’s Henrik Bjornstad, India’s Arjun Atwal and England’s Warren Bennett were also casualties, while Swede Henrik Stenson was disqualified after signing for a wrong score after playing the wrong ball in his first round.

Latest scores and totals in second round of The Barclays Scottish Open, Loch Lomond (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

(x) denotes amateurs

140 Iain Pyman 69 71

141 Carl Pettersson (Swe) 69 72, Colin Montgomerie 71 70

142 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 71, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 71, Gary Evans 71 71

143 Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 74 69

144 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 72, Paul McGinley 73 71, Phil Mickelson (USA) 76 68

145 Sandy Lyle 73 72, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 73 72

147 Miles Tunnicliff 75 72

148 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 74 74

150 Jonathan Lomas 75 75, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 75

153 Chad Campbell (USA) 76 77, Mark McNulty (Zim) 78 75

154 Fraser Mann 79 75

157 Charlie Wi (Kor) 81 76

Rtd: Anthony Wall