Mickelson blows into contention in Quail Hollow

Only a storm delay could slow Phil Mickelson after he shot his way up the leaderboard on the second day of the the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.

The former world number one raced into second place, and a stroke behind clubhouse leader Bill Haas, after carding a six-under-par 66.

Mickelson had already closed the gap on overnight leader Haas to a single stroke by the time a lightning storm struck which forced a delay of 90 minutes.

The left-hander sunk five birdies in 13 holes, the best of which saw him roll in a 20-footer at the par-three 13th, before the players were forced off.

Haas did respond to the challenge when play resumed just before 12.30pm local time as he immediately made a pair of birdies to push his lead back out to three strokes.

But a dropped shot at 17, his first blemish of the tournament so far following his 64 yesterday, coupled with Mickelson’s sixth birdie of the day left the American clinging to the merest of clubhouse leads at 10 under.

Veteran Fijian Vijay Singh was two strokes off the pace as he carded a second successive round of 68 to be eight under, but it was England’s Brian Davis and American Webb Simpson who were the biggest movers of the day so far.

The duo both returned rounds of 67 to be tied for fourth place on seven under.

The 36-year-old Davis, who has never won on the PGA Tour, started his round with three birdies in his opening five holes.

Another on his 10th hole of the day, the par-four first, had him within touching distance of the lead and while he dropped a shot at five he immediately picked up further shots at six and seven.