There was a lot of talk between Thursday night and into Friday morning regarding Phil Mickelson and how he would respond to his birdie-free round of 4-over 75 in Round One of the 110th United States Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Would he be patient, seeking out opportunities but not necessarily creating them? Would he boldly go at hole locations that even he would be foolish to tempt? Would he fall somewhere in between, making some shots but not generating any heat or sparks to get the round going?
So, to borrow an old but accurate line, what would Phil do?
He came out being selectively aggressive and birdied five of his first eight holes to post a first nine score of 4-under par 31 on his way to a second-round, field best 5-under par 66 moving him past a gaggle of golfers and into a second place tie at 1-under par for the tournament with Ernie Els, Ryo Ishikawa and Dustin Johnson, two shots behind 36-hole leader Graeme McDowell.
It was an electric start for Lefty, something that he knew he had to do, on a cool, cloudy day when the marine layer was threatening to put a damper on the festivities. Making it more impressive, Philly Mick, after beginning this U.S. Open campaign on Thursday with a round that featured no birdies and four bogeys, now has tallied six birdies and five bogeys through two rounds, a remarkable reversal of fate punctuated by his white-hot start on Friday.
Now the anticipation builds as Saturday, known as "Moving Day" on tour, takes center stage for Round Three.
THE CONTENDERS
In the mix, two shots behind Graeme McDowell, Mickelson, Ryo Ishikawa, Ernie Els and Dustin Johnson all lurk at one-under par for the Open.
The 18-year old Ishikawa parlayed his two-birdie, two-bogey round into a late Saturday afternoon tee time at Pebble by adding his second round ever par 71 to his opening round 70. Els, with five birdies and two bogeys in his second-round 68, created a solid back-up to the scattered two-over par 73 that was shot on Thursday.
The long-hitting Johnson has won the last two events played at Pebble Beach and has been able to play steady if unspectacular golf so far to keep him in the mix with rounds of 71 and 70 respectively.
In all, there are only five players under par (McDowell, Mickelson, Els, Johnson and Ishikawa) while there are 24 players within six shots of the lead.
GRAEME CRACKER GOODNESS
While having never won on the PGA Tour, second-round leader Graeme McDowell has posted five career Euro wins during his time as a professional.
McDowell followed up an opening-round even par 71 at Pebble with a 3-under par 68 on Friday to claim the 36-hole lead.
Through two rounds McDowell has posted 11 birdies, 17 pars and 8 bogeys. The key in both rounds was staying away from trouble and avoiding the big number.
KELLY'S HEROES
Jerry Kelly finds himself squarely in the mix heading into Saturday's third round. JK is just three shots back, tied for sixth, after firing rounds of 72-70 -- even Par through 36 holes. The key to his rounds have been his ability to hit fairways (75 percent) and make putts (27.5 putts per round). The putting has been especially big since Kelly has hit only 56 percent of his greens in regulation (20/36).
THE CUT
The cut for the US Open came at plus-7 149. Those on the wrong side of the number at plus-8, included Tom Lehman, Trevor Immelman, Alvaro Quiros, Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy, to name a few.
The group at nine over featured Brian Gay, Oliver Wilson and Mark Leishman.
Some of the names missing the cut in double digits include, Hunter Mahan (+10), Ben Crane (+10), Rory McIlroy (+10), Rory Sabbatini (+11), Rocco Mediate (+12), Brian Davis (+12), Stephen Ames (+16) and Michael Campbell (+19).
PAIRINGS
Ty Tryon gets things underway on Saturday by being first off as a single at 9 a.m.
Tom Watson at 60 years of age, made the cut at Pebble with rounds of 78-71-149 and will tee off with Peter Hanson of Sweden in the 10:30 a.m. time slot.
At 10:40, it will be Davis Love III and Steve Stricker teeing it up together. Steve Stricker made the cut with rounds of 75-74-149 and would love nothing more than to move up the leader board with a solid round on Saturday.
Sergio Garcia (remember him?) and Pablo Martin (know who he is?) will be in the 10:50 a.m. group.
As for the leaders, KJ Choi and Ian Poulter head off at 3:00 p.m., Soren Kjeldsen and Jerry Kelly tee it up at 3:10 p.m. Brendon de Jonge and Paul Casey are paired together at 3:20 p.m. Alex Cjeka and Phil Mickelson go off at 3:30 p.m. In the penultimate group, it will youth and experience as Ryo Ishikawa and Ernie Els put a peg in the ground at 3:40 p.m. while the final group of Dustin Johnson and Graeme McDowell gets on to the golf course at 3:50 p.m.
MOVING ON UP
Saturday is traditionally moving day, a day where the USGA's competition board will play with the course a little bit. Tees will be moved up, hole locations will range from easier to extremely difficult depending on the atmospheric conditions surrounding Pebble on Saturday.
Long story short there will be some opportunities to make a move or two during the day, the key is, can you put yourself where you need to be when you want to be there.
Day Three of the 110th United States Open is on the tee, enjoy the action.
