Golf

Mickelson up by 4 at Pebble Beach Pro-Am

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Phil Mickelson looked as if he was headed for a runaway. He had to settle for another record Friday in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Coming off a course-record 62 at tough Spyglass Hill, Mickelson had more wild adventures that he somehow converted into birdies and pars before stalling on his back nine at Poppy Hills for 5-under 67, giving him a four-shot lead over fellow left-hander Mike Weir.

Mickelson was at 15-under 129, breaking by two shots the 36-hole tournament record. The mark was set by Matt Gogel in 2001 and Pat Perez in 2002, neither of whom went on to win.

"Lefty" is a different breed of player, and he is picking up more confidence each round. And as always, he keeps it entertaining.

Mickelson pulled his opening tee shot on No. 10 so badly that he had no choice but to pitch out sideways. That left him a 6-iron into the green, and he holed a 30-footer for par.

He hooked another tee shot on the par-5 12th, but it caromed off a tree and left him an opening for a 7-iron to the green and a simple two-putt for birdie. Then came an 8-iron that he had to carve out of the woods for another unlikely birdie. By the time he made the turn, he was 5 under for his round and had a six-shot lead.

But he played the front nine at Poppy in par with hardly any fireworks on a cool, damp afternoon with light rain that made scoring on all three courses a little tougher.

Weir, who has finished in the top four at Pebble Beach the last two years, made an early charge to get to 10 under for the tournament. He dropped two straight shots along the cliffs, then finished with three straight birdies, all of them from about 10 feet, for 67 at Pebble Beach.

"I like the position I'm in," Weir said. "Spyglass is a tough test, and hopefully I can have a good round there and give myself a shot Sunday."

Kevin Sutherland had 70 and Paul Goydos had 68 at Pebble Beach to finish at 9-under 135, and Andrew Magee joined them with 68 at Spyglass.

Defending champion Vijay Singh has some work to do - not to become the sixth repeat champion at Pebble, but simply to get a tee time Sunday. Singh had 40 on his second nine at Poppy Hills - traditionally the easiest course in the rotation - and had a second straight 73.

He was 17 shots out of the lead, and likely needed 68 at Pebble Beach to make the cut.

Mickelson also heads to Pebble Beach, hopeful of extending his lead even more. He is coming off a five-shot victory last weekend in Phoenix, the largest margin of his career, and would like nothing more than another easy win on a course where he has won before.

His other victory came in 1998, when the tournament was postponed seven months by rain.

WOMEN'S WORLD CUP: Lorie Kane made seven birdies and Dawn-Coe Jones pitched in with some pars as Canada shot 7-under 66 in the better-ball format and shared the lead with Italy after the first round in George, South Africa.

Diana Luna and Guilia Sergas overcame double bogey on the par-5 ninth by finishing with five straight birdies to match Canada on the Links course at Fancourt.

Karrie Webb and Rachel Hetherington, who won the Women's World Cup the last time it was held five years ago, combined for 68 that left Australia two shots behind along with Japan, Sweden and the Phillipines.

Americans Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel made four birdies on the front nine before stalling with pars and wound up with 69.

Today's second round is alternate shot, followed by individual stroke play in which both scores count for the final round Sunday.

EUROPEAN PGA: Sweden's Niclas Fasth matched the course record with 9-under 63 to take a two-stroke lead in the New Zealand Open. Fasth, one of three players to match the course record set seven years ago by Scott Verplank, had a 16-under 128 total on the Gulf Harbor Country Club course. Englishman Miles Tunnicliff (63) was second, and countryman Oliver Wilson (65) was another stroke back. Australians Simon Nash (67) and Jarrod Moseley (66) were 12 under.

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:25:13]