{"id":523,"date":"2005-03-04T22:41:25","date_gmt":"2005-03-05T03:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/mickelson_the_real_monster_at_doral\/"},"modified":"2005-03-04T22:41:25","modified_gmt":"2005-03-05T03:41:25","slug":"mickelson_the_real_monster_at_doral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/pga\/mickelson_the_real_monster_at_doral","title":{"rendered":"Mickelson: the Real Monster at Doral"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FordPhil Mickelson is playing like the world’s number one golfer of late and proved it again today. He fired a 6-under 66 to claim exclusive rights to first place and sits at -14. His six birdies put him two strokes ahead of Billy Andrade. Phil – not the course – is the true monster this week.<\/p>\n

On a course that historically has been one of the PGA’s most dramatic, we are seeing some low scores. Just to give you an idea of what these guys are up against, the Blue Monster is a par 72 7,255-yard course. There are 117 sand bunkers and water comes into play on 12 of its 18 holes. The 18th hole was the most difficult hole on the PGA Tour last year. It is a course that attracts the world’s best golfers and has provided some memorable moments since the tournament’s inception in 1962.
\n
\nMickelson had another good showing, saying, “I didn’t hit the ball as well as I did yesterday but I was able to salvage a lot of pars with my short game.” He credits lower scores with more wedges into greens thanks to being very long off the tee (a story we’ve heard over and over and over again since Phil switched to Callaway<\/a>). Give him the credit he deserves, he’s getting the job done.<\/p>\n

Billy Andrade posted 66 for the second day in a row and is within striking distance of the lead. His 31s on the front nine both days is impressive. “One of my biggest downfalls is I get ahead of myself” said Andrade. He has a good routine going and apparently living in the moment is paying off.<\/p>\n

José Maria Olazabal had fair outing, posting a 69. It was good enough to secure third place. Billy Mayfair posted his second 67 of the tournament which leaves him alone in fourth place, four strokes off the lead.<\/p>\n

Tiger had a tough day posting a disappointing 2-under 70. After two birdies on the four par 5s yesterday he struggled a bit with them today. He posted two pars, a birdie and a bogey to stay even on the three-shotters. Tiger’s expectations have been high for the 2005 season repeatedly saying that he is close to returning to top form. His play is just too inconsistent at this point to convince anyone that he’s firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n

Vijay Singh’s 67 vaulted him ten places up the board on Friday and put him five strokes behind leader Mickelson and is tied for 5th place (with Tiger). “I was really happy with the way I was striking the ball” said Singh, “I just need momentum.” Vijay is grasping for an intangible confidence that will put him in the winner’s circle like it did last season. He’s going to have to pull out something very special to compete for a win this weekend. <\/p>\n

Last year’s winner, Craig Parry, is tied for 5th as he moved ahead 28 places with a second round 66. He almost missed his start as his alarm clock wasn’t set properly. The same thing happened to him last year, but he showed up in the nick of time and won. Perhaps thats good luck for his chances this weekend. “I made most of my birdie opportunities and that is reflected in the score” said Parry. Parry said, “You have to position your way around the golf course” and that’s what he did playing “chess golf” to post a 66 for the day.<\/p>\n

Pos Name                     Tot    R1    R2\n 1  Phil Mickelson           -14    64    66\n 2  Billy Andrade            -12    66    66\n 3  Jose Maria Olazabal      -11    64    69\n 4  Billy Mayfair            -10    67    67\nT5  Franklin Langham         -9     68    67\nT5  Vijay Singh              -9     68    67\nT5  Tiger Woods              -9     65    70\nT5  Craig Parry              -9     69    66\nT5  Stweart Cink             -9     70    65\nT5  Joey Snyder III          -9     66    69<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With so many players capable of going low, this weekend’s Ford Championship at Doral promises a good finish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pga"],"yoast_head":"\nMickelson: the Real Monster at Doral (PGA) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/pga\/mickelson_the_real_monster_at_doral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Mickelson: the Real Monster at Doral (PGA) - 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