Mickelson apologizes for "boringest round"

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Plenty of low scores were posted Friday at TPC Sawgrass. Masters champion Phil Mickelson missed out on the fun - again.

With a chance to move up to the No. 1 ranking with a strong week, Mickelson so far has spun his wheels on the Stadium Course. All he could muster in the second round was a 1-under 71 that gave him a 3-under 141 total, nine strokes behind Lee Westwood, the player Lefty vanquished last month to win his third green jacket.

"A lot of pars today. Very boring round," said Mickelson, who offset a sloppy bogey on the par-5 11th with just two birdies. "I apologize to all the TV viewers. It was the boringest round to watch."

It appeared that it wasn't much fun to play either. Mickelson didn't have an explanation for why he struggled with birdies were flying all over the surprisingly toothless Stadium Course. "Honestly, I don't know what to say," he answered when asked for the third time why he was largely shooting blanks. "Didn't play great, didn't play bad. Just didn't get it going. It was frustrating."

A consolation prize is going out early Saturday with a chance to play a course that is likely to only get more difficult.

"They call Saturday moving day; that's what guys at 2- 3- 4-under par are going to have to do. They're going to have to shoot something in the mid-60s," Mickelson said. "And though it looks like it may not be enough, I think it will be. I think it will get it right back in the tournament. Because again, in the afternoon it's playing much different, and it will be hard for the guys (at the top of the leaderboard) to pull away."

--*Dave Shedloski