Written by Kyle Porter at CBSSports.com
It took 30 holes for Phil Mickelson to face some adversity at the 145th Open Championship.
It happened on his 30th hole when Mickelson finally made his first bogey — long overdue for someone who plays golf with the volatility of Mickelson.
It was also on his 30th hole that we finally got a proper Open as the wind and the rain started to pick up just as Mickelson traipsed down the back nine at Royal Troon. He knew that meant he would have to hold on to his rain slicker for dear life coming home. He’d extended his score to 11 under and his lead to four before the 30th hole with birdies in three of his first 11 on Friday, so there was some wiggle room for him as his second round came to a close.
He needed it.
Mickelson slipped a little coming to the house but still fired a 69 in the second round for a 36-hole total of 10-under 132, which will likely lead going into the weekend. That 10 under mark would have led by three the last time the Open was played here in 2004 and would have made a playoff if it held up through Sunday.
Mickelson’s 132 is also the Royal Troon 36-hole scoring record, cracking Darren Clarke’s 133 in 1997.
“It felt pretty good,” Mickelson told Golf Channel of the 69 in a driving rainstorm for part of his round. “The conditions made it tough. With the rain as well as the wind. It made it more difficult. I enjoy coming over and facing that challenge.”
Mickelson played most of the day with two black gloves on (he even putted with them), no umbrella and a binder clip on his apparently too-big hat to keep it steady in the wind. He looked like an amateur who snuck on the course near sunset for a few holes. He didn’t play like it though.
Lefty has left himself room for some mistakes on a weekend in which he will presumably lead, but he hasn’t made many of them through the first two rounds. He pulled irons over and over again off the tee on Friday and took advantage of some softer greens with approach shots and par-3 shots like this one on the Postage Stamp.
