Mickelson is on the way

Darren Clarke still heads the Championship on five under par, but behind him everything is changing. The man to watch is Phil Mickelson, now just two shots behind and tied with Dustin Johnson in second place.

Rickie Fowler, inside glaring orange colors of Oklahoma point out University, has opened with 4 directly pars and is also fourth forward of Thomas Bjorn that has dropped a shot.

Mickelson birdied the second, the fiercely complicated fourth and also the brief sixth to provide him inside of two shots with the lead. His 3 in the 495-yard into-wind fourth was only the 2nd sub-par rating so much around the last day. another was scored by Sergio Garcia.

Anthony Kim has joined the party with a birdie at the 12th. That put him at two under in company with Rickie Fowler who is still hunting his first birdie of the day.

Clarke holed what could prove a vitally important putt from 18 feet across the first green to save par. Had he missed, it might have set the wrong tone for his entire round. Faced with a six-footer for birdie at the next he stroked it firmly home, and had to do the same thing at the third to save par after racing his approach putt well past. These were the sort of putts that he missed by the handful yesterday and it will fill him with confidence to see them disappearing today. But he dropped a shot at the fourth and the in-form Mickleson is closing fast.

Darren Clarke is doggedly hanging on to his two-shot lead more than Phil Mickelson for the cause that Championship enters the important last nine holes.

Mickelson was out in 30, 5 under, and picked up an additional birdie in the 10th following an immaculate short-iron approach. At 6 within he closed inside one particular shot of Clarke at that stage and was relentlessly hunting straight down the head till an uncharacteristic pass up from brief array in the brief 11th. Clarke’s lead was back again to two when he safely finished the top nine in 33.

The united states left-hander produced an excellent conserve in the 12th exactly where he was bunkered away from the tee 70 yards brief from the green. He reached the fringe with his recuperation and chipped stone dead.

Popular Spaniard, the 47-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez, has slipped perfect outside of contention. A triple-bogey 7 in the fourth hole, 3 other dropped shots and one particular birdie all additional as much as an outward five-over 40.