Canadian Mike Weir moved into a tie for the Deutsche Bank Championship lead but it was Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods who grabbed the spotlight with a magical display of shot-making.
Mickelson and Woods, playing together in a high-profile grouping
with Vijay Singh, fired sparkling seven-under-par 64s, the lowest
scores in the second round, to surge into contention at the TPC
Boston.
Left-hander Mickelson twice chipped in, for birdie on 15 and
for eagle at the par-five 18th, on his way to an eight-under total
of 134, just one off the pace.
World number one Woods, grouped with Mickelson and Singh this
week for the first time in a PGA Tour event, covered his last eight
holes in six under to finish a further two shots adrift.
Woods, champion last year, rolled in a 33-footer to eagle the
par-four fourth before ending a breezy day at six under in the
second leg of the inaugural four-event FedExCup playoff series.
Left-hander Weir, who needs to finish no worse than fifth to
qualify for next week's tournament in Chicago, had forged two
strokes clear before bogeying his last two holes for a 68.
That left him at nine under and level with Australia's Aaron
Baddeley (66) and American Rich Beem, who birdied the last four
holes for a 66.
Mickelson, hunting his third title of the year, was a further
shot back in a tie for fourth with fellow Americans Sean O'Hair
(66), Brett Wetterich (68) and Ryan Moore (69).
"Today was a lot of fun," Mickelson told reporters after
charging up the leaderboard with five birdies and one eagle in his
lowest round of the year. "This is what we were hoping for
yesterday but you can't get it going all the time.
"It was actually a little more challenging today with the
cooler air and the breeze but the greens were so perfect you felt
you could make lots of putts.
"I just sensed that everybody was going to come out ready
today," added the three-times major winner, who opened with a 70.
"We all needed a good round to get back into the tournament,
and that's what we ended up doing."
Fijian Singh, the 2004 champion, followed his first-round 74
with a 66 while Woods mounted his charge with six birdies, an eagle
and a solitary bogey at the par-four first.
The "Big Three," who attracted huge, appreciative galleries
for their morning round, were a collective 19 under par for the
day.
"Feel-wise, I hit the ball about the same today, I just made a
lot more putts," Woods said after improving on his opening 72.
"It was nice to get the putter rolling and I caught fire on
the back nine. The whole idea was for me to get something around
three or four under par today. Now I'm back in the tournament."
Overnight leader Camilo Villegas of Colombia slipped back
into a five-way tie for eighth place at seven under after returning
a 72.
The cut fell at one-over 143 with 75 players advancing into
the last two rounds. Among those missing out were British Open
champion Padraig Harrington and double US Open winner Retief
Goosen.
Players are competing this week for points in addition to an
overall purse of $7 million and a winner's cheque for $1.26
million.
The leading 70 on the FedExCup points list after the
tournament ends on Monday qualify for next week's BMW Championship
outside Chicago.
The top 30 in the standings will then qualify for the
September 13-16 Tour Championship in Atlanta where a $10 million
annuity bonus in deferred compensation will be earned by the
overall points champion.