Mickelson leads the way

Phil Mickelson was the star of the show on the second morning of the USPGA championship at Baltusrol – but an eagle on the last brought a big smile to the face of England’s Greg Owen and kept him among the chasing pack.

Mickelson, revelling it seemed in the fact that Tiger Woods was so far behind after day one of the final major of the year, had an eagle and seven birdies in an action-packed 65. His 132 halfway total was only one off the Championship record.

Having shared the overnight lead on 67 the world number four, desperate to add to his Masters title last year, was eight under par, four clear – and a massive 13 strokes ahead of Woods.

That was before the Masters and Open champion even teed off for his second round, but he did so knowing he almost certainly needed a score in the sixties just to avoid his first missed cut in a major as a professional.

Woods was in a hole all right, but all Mickelson had to say on the subject was: “If you’re looking for me to shed a tear it’s not going to happen.

“But I think we all know that come Sunday his name will find its way up on top there. It’ll be tough for us to keep him back.”

Defending champion Vijay Singh, 1997 winner Davis Love and South African Rory Sabbatini were his closest challengers and Swede Jesper Parnevik was four under as well until he double-bogeyed the 430-yard 15th.

Owen and Lee Westwood were three under and in a tie for fifth. Westwood had three holes still to go, but Owen added a 69 to his opening 68 to be the joint early clubhouse leader with Australian Stuart Appleby, one of the six players he had trailed by a stroke overnight.

This might prove to be Owen’s final event as a member of the European tour if the weekend goes badly – and that would take him out of the equation for Ryder Cup points when the qualifying race starts next month.

This is his first major for two years. He could have been in the Open last month, but was controversially overlooked for a place when it became available because he had earlier withdrawn from a qualifying event.

Owen, angry that the entry form made no mention of that rule, has now apologised to the Royal and Ancient Club for saying at the time: “They sit there and discuss it over a glass of port and then make it law.”

But the consequences of that are still being felt and he commented: “They are messing with my career.”

To remain a European tour member Owen has to commit to 11 events, but after coming through the US Tour qualifying school last December this is only his fifth counting tournament so far.

In contrast, this is his 17th start in America, where he has already earned over £600,000.

“If you’re not in the world championships, which I’m not at the moment, it’s tough to play both tours and if I don’t get into the one next week then I’m going to resign.”

Owen, 168th in the world at the start of the year, now stands 68th, but he needs to be in the top 50 next Monday to make it into the field for the NEC Invitational in Ohio. And for that he probably needs a top five finish on Sunday.

The eagle certainly helped in that regard. He hit a four-iron to 22 feet and the putt was going at pace when the hole got in the way.

It was all the more important because he had just taken six on the 17th, at 650 yards the longest hole in major history.

Mickelson grabbed birdies at the 11th, 13th, 14th and then, after bogeying the short 16th by finding sand and missing from inside five feet, the 17th, with an eagle following on the 18th.

In his case it was courtesy of an 18-foot putt, but unlike Owen Mickelson still had the more testing front nine to play and the 478-yard first caught him out.

The left-hander found rough on the left and right there and his third shot over a bunker came up short of the green.

A 30-footer on the 503-yard third – a par four, incredibly – made quick amends, but after another birdie at the fifth he bogeyed the next.

His supply of birdies had not run out, however. There was another at the 380-yard eighth Steve Webster, in his first-ever tournament in America, was delighted he looked like making the cut on two over after a 70. But Brian Davis was among those to make a quick exit after two 74s.