CHASKA, Minn. — Phil Mickelson walked off the wind-blown Hazeltine course, unsure whether he would be back for the weekend.
He barely made the cut, but after shooting a second consecutive 2-over-par 74 on Friday in the second round of the PGA Championship, Mickelson was 4-over for the tournament. At mid-day, the second-ranked player in the world was in real trouble of heading home early. It took a 19-way tie for 62nd place to keep him in it.
“I’m not going to beat many people putting the way I am,” said Mickelson, who decided after the first round to do something he hadn’t done in a long time: go to the practice green and work on his shoddy short game.
The extra time didn’t pay off, though Mickelson insisted he felt better about his putting than the day before.
Beginning on the back nine, he shot into the wind on No. 12 and made birdie. Two holes later, however, he finished with a bogey because of another missed putt.
He amended a double bogey on No. 5 with an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole and had an opportunity to pick up another stroke with a 15-footer on No. 8. It sailed long, and Mickelson waved his hands as if to say, “Come on!” In all, he needed 77 putts for 36 holes.
“I’ve got to get this thing turned around,” Mickelson said.
Receiving plenty of support from the galleries, one guy yelled, “Keep your head up, Phil!” after Mickelson failed to putt for par and made the turn toward the front nine. If it was any consolation, Mickelson’s group didn’t fare much better than he did.
Paul Azinger shot an 80, and David Toms followed his first-round 69 with a 75, a high score also attributable to some struggles on the greens.
“You don’t see a lot of balls that close to the hole, it seems like,” Toms said, assessing the course. “At least not in our group. So then if you’re not making your 25- and 30-footers, or a couple of those, it’s hard to make birdies.”
