Tiger and Lefty duel in the sun

GOLF: Phil Mickelson refused to be overshadowed by his great rival Tiger Woods on the second day of the Ford Championship at Doral in Florida yesterday.

Defending champion Woods, leader by one overnight, added a 67 to his opening 64, but Mickelson, runner-up last year, birdied two of the last three holes for a 66 and so joined the world number one in the early clubhouse lead on 13 under par.

"This guy Tiger seems to play well every day, every week," said Mickelson before the round. "I'm just trying to keep pace so I can maybe have another shot at duelling out with him on Sunday.

"I'm glad that he's playing well - I've got to do my part and stay with him."

Nobody has made a successful defence of this title since Ray Floyd in 1981, but Woods had stated: "Hopefully I can go out and post another good number, because you have to. If you shoot even par you're going to get run over here."

Returning to the event where Woods won by one last year with closing rounds of 63 and 66, the pair kicked off the second round with birdies to throw down the gauntlet to each other again.

Mickelson grabbed an eagle on the long eighth to turn in 33, but Woods, resuming on the back nine this time, matched that by picking up further shots on the 16th and 18th.

The similarity remained remarkable when both chipped to three feet for birdies at the start of their second nine, but Woods went two clear with a superb pitch to two feet on the second.

His first bogey of the week came when he failed to get up and down from sand on the fourth, and he soon lost the outright lead - not to Mickelson, but to former US PGA champion Rich Beem.

However, Beem finished with a three-putt bogey and Woods came straight back with a birdie on the fifth, before Mickelson got on level terms after pitching to 10 and five feet at the 16th and 17th.

Later in the day American Ryder Cup player Scott Verplank also turned it on with eight birdies and one bogey to join the leaders on 13 under par.

David Toms also made a run, with six birdies getting him to 12 under with one to play.

Padraig Harrington birdied the second and fifth to be six under at the turn, then birdied 11 and 12.

The Irishman dropped a shot at the short 15th, but then immediately got the shot back at the 16th.

But then he came to the notorious Blue Monster, the 18th, and a double bogey six saw him slip back to six under.

Graeme McDowell had a roller-coaster round, including a front nine (his back nine) in which he recorded just three pars, but three birdies, an eagle and two bogeys. He finished with a three-under 69 for 142 to miss the cut.

Ernie Els, who started the day only at level par and in danger of missing the cut, birdied the first and second, then had four birdies on the trot from the eighth, bogeyed the 13th, then picked up shots at 15 and 16 to finish on seven under. That meant he maintained the longest active run of cuts made on the US Tour.

The cut fell at four under.