Cheeky birdie puts Mickelson in driving seat

Helped by one of the more outrageous birdies of his career – and there have been an awful lot of them – Phil Mickelson is on course for the perfect pre-British Open pick-me-up tomorrow.

Having injured his left wrist practising for last month’s US Open and missing the halfway cut both at Oakmont and at Congressional last week, Mickelson leads the Barclays Scottish Open by one from world number 320 Gregory Havret with 18 holes to go at Loch Lomond.