GOLF
11 one-putts put Mickelson in lead at Fort Worth Phil Mickelson had 11 one-putts and converted all six of his sand saves Friday while shooting a 2-under-par 68 to take the lead at 7-under-par 133 in the second round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Fort Worth, Texas. Mickelson led Matt Kuchar (64), Brian Gay (65) and Johnson Wagner (71) by one stroke.
"It was probably the best putting round I've had all year," said Mickelson, who needed only 25 putts.
That's because Mickelson kept setting himself up with the short clubs. From the fairways, the rough and the bunkers.
Only four of his one-putts were 9 feet or longer (the longest was 18 feet). Three of those came at Nos. 3-5, the holes known as Colonial's "horrible horseshoe" because of the difficulty and layout of that stretch, where he hit his approach into greenside bunkers each time and saved par. That was part of his final nine holes.
Wagner, the first-round leader by two strokes, got a birdie on his second hole, the 611-yard 11th. But he needed three shots from 27 feet for bogey at the par-3 13th and took a double bogey after hitting his approach at No. 15 into a water canal. There were no more miscues, but he got only one more birdie.
Gay had a bogey-free round, including a 46-foot blast out of the bunker at the 171-yard 13th that was the first of his three birdies on the final six holes.
Kuchar, whose only victory on the PGA Tour came in 2002, started his round by making four consecutive birdies. He opened with a 25-foot putt before making a pair of 31-footers.
• Dina Ammaccapane, who had six birdies and three bogeys, shot her second consecutive 69 to gain a one-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Corning Classic at Corning, N.Y.
