Golf: Mickelson's lead holds up at US Open

Phil Mickelson was holding onto his lead at the US Open on Friday even without playing a shot as the early second-round starters failed to make up ground on the American crowd favorite.

Mickelson shot a three-under par 67 on Thursday and was not due to start his second round till 3:41 pm (1941 GMT) due to the more than four hours of play that were lost to bad weather.

In the meantime, the East course at Merion Golf Club continued to exact revenge on those who had predicted record low scores, as only three players out of the 156 starters were under par by mid-afternoon.

One of those was Mickelson, while the others were England’s Luke Donald, who was at two under for the tournament with six holes to play, and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who also had a late start.

Former world number one Donald did briefly poke his nose in front at four under at one point, but like most of the field he found it hard going on the firmer fairways and greens, with bogeys at 15, two and four to go with a birdie at the third.

There were a raft of players at level par, but most of them, like Mickelson and Colsaerts, had yet to start their second rounds.

Out on the course, Scotland’s Russell Knox was level par after seven holes, the same as Australian Mathew Goggin.

Tiger Woods was holding on at three over after three holes of his second round, while playing partner Rory McIlroy was a shot better off.

Because of the rain delays, the second round would not be completed before Saturday morning at the earliest.

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