Phil Mickelson is sitting alone in first place at Merion as the second round of the US Open is underway and after Luke Donald faltered at the end of the day, Lefty stands alone atop the leaderboard at three under as the weekend approaches.
Tiger Woods has slowly been able to get back into it and he is one under for the day and two over so far for the tournament and if he can turn things around it will make the top of the leaderboard very exciting. Mickelson had the clubhouse lead on Thursday when play was suspended and Donald had the chance to stay ahead after taking the lead and he slipped behind after some bogeys for a two under 68, while Woods is looking to get back on track to try and win his first major championship since 2008, also at the US Open.
Mickelson is trying to erase some heartbreak from the past, as he has been the runner up five times by a combined nine shots, something no one else has ever done. Only three players were under par after the opening round and the expected influx of birdies due to the soft greens did not come to fruition and now players must get back on track as the weekend approaches. Weather may still be a factor, but at least for most of Friday it did not interfere.
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Adam Scott is coming into the tournament after winning the Masters and he struggled along with group partners Woods and Rory McIlroy, while defending champ Webb Simpson ended with a 71 after three bogeys. Tournament favorite Tiger Woods, a four-times winner on the 2013 PGA Tour who is seeking his first major title in five years, finished with a 73 after covering his final eight holes in one over on a chilly, damp morning at Merion Golf Club.
Englishman Donald had been a stroke in front with five holes remaining when play was suspended in fading light on Thursday but slipped back with three-putt bogeys at the par-four 16th and par-four last to card a two-under-par 68. Woods had winced on several occasions on Thursday and shook his left arm as he played out of Merion's thick rough but was reluctant to talk much about it on Friday.
England's former world number one Lee Westwood briefly shared the lead at three under with Mickelson on Thursday but tumbled backwards with a double-bogey at the 12th after hitting one of Merion's distinctive wicker baskets atop the pin with his approach. Masters champion Adam Scott, three under overnight, dropped five shots in his last seven holes to post a 72. Reigning U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson bogeyed three of his last eight holes for a 71.
"The tough holes are extremely tough," Donald told reporters after finishing up par, par, bogey, par, bogey. "It does give you a little bit of balance with some of those shorter holes, but you really need to play those tough ones well." "I misread both the longer putt and the short putt (on 16). Both of them I thought were slightly right-to-left and they turned three or four feet right-to-left.
"(On 18) I thought I hit that soft enough for it to break, but it didn't," he added, referring to a four-footer for par which slid past the left edge of the cup.
