THE transformation wrought in Phil Mickelson, some of it by his own hand, some by the influence of others, is remarkable to see. If Mickelson had emerged this season wearing a clown’s red nose and massive shoes he could scarcely have looked less like the man he was last year. And how it has worked. Two months ago Mickelson snatched the Masters from Ernie Els with a thrilling birdie on the 72nd hole.
Now he has plotted his way resolutely and carefully around Shinnecock Hills, a course that demands enormous respect, and led the US Open after his second round Mickelson added a 66 to his first round of 68 to be six-under par, the same score as Shigeki Maruyama, and one stroke ahead of Fred Funk, who, like Mickelson, had a 66.
Sergio García’s 68 took him to level par. Darren Clarke missed the cut after a round of 74 but Lee Westwood survived after a 71 to be four over par, the same score as Padraig Harrington.
Mickelson used to be a golfer who attacked courses with vigour. In his attitude he was reminiscent of the young Severiano Ballesteros - and he had a short game to match. Life was for living, Mickelson seemed to say. There was no need to rein in his full-frontal assault on courses.
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All that began to change last year when Mickelson watched Amy, his wife, nearly die when giving birth to Evan Samuel, the couple’s first son and third child. That marked the end of Mickelson’s gambling and marked the start of a change in the way he played golf, too.
Gone is the reckless gambler who would charge his putts at the hole. Gone, too, is the golfer whose sole aim on the tee of a par-four or par-five was to whack his drive as far towards the green as possible. Rick Smith, his coach, has persuaded him that a cautious approach is a viable one. After the first round here, Mickelson stood 97th in the driving-distance statistics with an average of just under 300 yards. In years gone by he would have been among the top ten.
Mickelson’s short game, which was good before, has been overhauled by Dave Pelz, his short-game coach and, having spent three days at this demanding course last week, he has learnt that there are places to which he can and cannot hit his approach shots. Add to this his newfound maturity and it becomes clear why he is playing so well.
Mickelson had only one bogey in his first two rounds and none in the 21 holes he played yesterday. He looked impressively solid throughout his second. This is a course on which it is possible to become quickly unhinged. Justin Rose, for example, went from seven over par to 14 over in eight holes. But throughout, Mickelson appeared relaxed and in control.
It was a day of two distinct periods. It began early when 57 golfers had to return to complete their first rounds. It had been dark and overcast with little wind when they had left the course the night before and it was dark, overcast and windless when they returned.
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But then Mickelson lit up the day, the cheers of support for him ringing out from all over the course, and a long afternoon unfolded during which so much happened that the memories of the cold and dark morning were banished from the mind.
Mickelson was followed by good rounds by Vijay Singh, with a 70, Retief Goosen, with a 66, then came a mini-drama involving Tiger Woods, who had been his usual erratic self. Woods started the day at two over par and dropped a stroke immediately. Now he was flirting with a 36-hole cut that was predicted to fall at four over. Two late birdies by Woods, on his 14th and 15th holes, removed the scare that he would fail to last through to the last two days of a major championship for the first time.
And then, as the shadows lengthened, came Maruyama, taking the lead from Mickelson until he took four strokes to reach the 9th green, his 18th, and Els, his measured tread spelling menace for Mickelson. A purple patch comprising four birdies in succession lit up the middle of the round of the 1994 and 1997 US Open champion and took the event to a new, more exciting level.
LEADERBOARD
United States unless stated
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EARLY TWO-ROUND SCORES: 134: P Mickelson 68, 66. 136: F Funk 70, 66; R Goosen (SA) 70, 66. 137: A Cabrera (Arg) 66, 71. 138: V Singh (Fiji) 68, 70; C Pavin 67, 71. 139: M Weir (Can) 69, 70. 140: P Perez 73, 67; S Ames (Trin) 74, 66; W Mayfair 70, 70. 141: K Triplett 71, 70; T Herron 75, 66. 142: S Levin 69, 73; L Janzen 72, 70; S Leaney (Aus) 72, 70; S Flesch 68, 74; S Verplank 71, 71; B van Pelt 69, 73. 143: T Clark (SA) 73, 70; J Ogilvie 70, 73; Z Johnson 70, 73; N Price (Zim) 73, 70; C Parry (Aus) 70, 73. 144: S McRoy 72, 72; J Rollins 76, 68; G Sisk 72, 72; K J Choi (S Kor) 76, 68; P Harrington (Ire) 73, 71; J J Henry 75, 69. 145: T Carter 74, 71; J Kelly 76, 69; W Haas 72, 73; C Reavie 73, 72; D Toms 73, 72; C Howell III 75, 70. 146: D Waldorf 72, 74; R Sabbatini (SA) 72, 74; M Campbell (NZ) 78, 68; J Kaye 77, 69; J P Hayes 72, 74; R Tway 73, 73. 147: B Watson 73, 74; D Olsen 73, 74; T Isenhour 74, 73; D Clarke (GB) 73, 74. 148: D Paulson 72, 76; J Sindelar 79, 69; T Izawa (Japan) 72, 76. 149: S Appleby (Aus) 79, 70; S Cink 74, 75. 150: T Levet (Fr) 75, 75; A Scott (Aus) 75, 75. 151: A Baddeley (Aus) 79, 72; T Hamilton 77, 74; P Jordan 79, 72. 152: F Jacobson (Swe) 75, 77. 153: P Osborn 76, 77; P Lawrie (GB) 76, 77. 155: J Rose (GB) 77, 78.
FIRST-ROUND SCORES: 66: J Haas, S Maruyama (Japan). 67: C Pavin. 68: J Maggert, K Cox, D Roesch, B Curtis, S Kendall, K Stadler. 69: T Petrovic, B Gay, T Immelman (SA). 70: P Price (GB), H Tanaka (Japan), R Allenby (Aus), E Els (SA). 71: D Hart, M Calcavecchia, C Wittenberg, P Lonard (Aus), S Micheel, C DiMarco, J Leonard, B Jones (Aus). 72: C Riley, T Kite, E Romero (Arg), S García (Sp), T Woods, C Campbell, J Furyk, C Kresge, E Axley. 73: N Smith, B Davis (GB), B Lardon, B Mackenzie, D Chopra (Swe), B Baird, C Dechert, L Westwood (GB), C Villegas (Col), T Pernice, A Tschudin (Aus), J Connelly, J L Lewis. 74: J Haeggman (Swe), R Beem, J Byrd, D Forsman, P Casey (GB), B Faxon, K Perry, I Poulter (GB), R Estes, S Allan (Aus), M Brooks, R Garrigus. 75: A Cejka (Ger), S Hoch, R Floyd, G Hjertstedt (Swe), J Gove, D Faught, S Stricker, S Hend (Aus), F Couples, O Uresti, S Sokol, J Hicks. 76: J Elliott, J Senden (Aus), D Love III, T Byrum, K Sutherland, C Bowden, M Gogel, S Gotsche, L Olson, S Weatherly, J Douma. 77: J Wagner, T Björn (Den), C Smith, M A Jiménez (Sp). 78: C Bourque, O Alvarez (Col), J Maxon. 79: P Jordan, R Tambellini. 81: N Faldo (GB). 83: D Duval, D Carr.