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The Loop

Phil Mickelson says to catch Jordan Spieth, "We're going to have to get a little fire in the golf course"

April 10, 2015

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A Friday back-nine rally lifted Phil Mickelson into sixth place entering the weekend at Augusta National. Now he's looking for a little help from the weather in his quest for a fourth green jacket.

Mickelson improved his position on the leader board with four birdies over the final eight holes, but he only made a small dent in Jordan Spieth's big lead.

"I think for us to catch him, we're going to have to get a little fire in the golf course," Mickelson said. "But for that to happen, the rains have to hold off."

Unfortunately for Phil, the odds of that are longer than him making a historic comeback. At the time of Mickelson's post-round comments, Weather.com listed the chance of thunderstorms in Augusta Friday night at 100 percent. After that, however, it looks like a dry weekend, which Mickelson thinks could expose Spieth's relative inexperience at Augusta National.

"Certainly, the firm conditions make angles important, past knowledge important, but there's no fire in the golf course right now," Mickelson said.

There's not a lot of drama on the course, either, but predicting what's going to happen over the final two rounds of a golf tournament is even more difficult than forecasting the weather.