Mickelson swoops with late eagle to snatch lead

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida, May 12 (Reuters) Phil Mickelson put behind him a day of scrambling and poor driving by spectacularly eagling the par-five 16th to snatch a one-shot lead in the Players Championship second round.

The American left-hander, joint pacesetter overnight with South African Rory Sabbatini, fired a level-par 72 in blazing afternoon sunshine and swirling breezes at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass.

While Tiger Woods flirted with missing a PGA Tour cut for only the fifth time, Mickelson recovered from four bogeys in eight holes around the turn to finish on five-under 139 yesterday.

Unheralded Australian Nathan Green birdied two of the last five holes for a 69 to occupy second place with compatriots Peter Lonard (72) and Rod Pampling (71) a further stroke back in a tie for third.

Also at three under were American Sean O'Hair (69) and Swede Carl Pettersson (71).

Mickelson, who opened with a 67 in Thursday's wind-swept first round, was one off the pace with three holes to play before leapfrogging Green with his timely eagle on 16.

The three-times major winner struck a superb six-iron from 208 yards to within seven feet of the flag and coolly rolled in the curling left-to-right putt.

RETAINED CONTROL He then parred the last two holes to retain control on a challenging course running fast and firm.

''I didn't play well enough to shoot a low score but fought hard to keep it around even par,'' Mickelson told reporters after needing only 23 putts. ''I'll gladly take 72.'' The twice Masters champion, whose card also featured four bogeys and two birdies, conceded the importance of his short game after missing eight fairways out of 14, and 12 of 18 greens in regulation.

''I didn't put myself in some great spots so relied on my short game to keep me in it,'' Mickelson said.

''My misses today were a lot bigger than they were the first day. But I'm pleased heading into the weekend to top the leaderboard and hopefully I'll turn it around.'' Green, who made the cut in 24 of 30 starts as a PGA Tour rookie last year, was delighted with his scrambling abilities.

''I didn't drive it well but just managed to sort of scrap around and came out with a good round,'' said the 31-year-old from New South Wales who worked in a crematorium managed by his parents after he left school.

BIG NUMBERS ''It's such a tough course, whether the wind is blowing or not. It's all about trying to limit the big numbers which you can have quite easily here.

''I made a lot of good par saves today,'' added the Australian, who produced one of only 11 sub-70 scores on a day when the average was 73.389.

World number one Woods, a stroke outside the projected cut line with three holes to play, birdied the par-five 16th en route to a one-over 73.

That left him on four-over 148 and among 79 players who qualified for the weekend when the guillotine finally fell at five over.

Among those missing out were former European number one Colin Montgomerie, 2005 winner Fred Funk and defending champion Stephen Ames of Canada.

''No doubt about it, if you're fighting the cut line, you don't really have your best stuff,'' Woods said after a round that included three bogeys and two birdies.

''I just need to get myself into red numbers (under par) for the tournament by day's end tomorrow. Obviously I have to make a lot more birdies than I've made the first two days.'' Woods, who has won nine times on the PGA Tour in his last 12 starts, has registered only two birdies at Sawgrass, both of them coming in Friday's second round.

Sabbatini, who ran up a quadruple-bogey seven at the notorious 17th after twice finding water, dropped back into a tie for 38th after carding a 79.

REUTERS SAM RK1325