At the age of 50, Phil Mickelson is in contention at the Masters. He completed his second round on Friday and finished at 5 under par, which is just four strokes behind leaders Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith.
But even though Mickelson shot 2-under 70 in the second round, the three-time Masters champion came away chafed about his putting.
"I'm striking the ball exceptional, and I'm putting horrific," Mickelson said. "If I get that fixed this weekend, I'm going to make a run."
Mickelson said he is "driving like a stallion."
On the par-4 ninth hole, he carried the ball over the trees on the left and down to the bottom of the fairway.
"I'm very frustrated and disappointed with the way I've putted, I've let eight, nine 10 shots on the green, and that's pathetic," Mickelson said. "I'm going to fix that and hopefully make a run. You can't make those mistakes, give those shots up in this field, in this competition.
"But we've got 36 more holes, and I'm playing well enough. I struck it well enough despite probably being last in the field in putting. But I'm going to get that fixed for Saturday's) round."
Actually, Mickelson was 82nd in the 94-man field in putting for the second round. He even was ahead of second-round leader Dustin Johnson. But no matter. He still was bad on the greens. On the other hand, he will return for the third round on Saturday after the rest of the field completes the second round, which was delayed because of darkness.
"We're just appreciative that we have a chance to play for the Masters and the green jacket," Mickelson said. "We're appreciative of the extra work. I mean, it's five, 10 times harder to put this tournament on this year than it has been in the past.
"It doesn't matter if I'm teeing off on 10, 12, rain delays, whatever. We get a chance to compete for the green jacket, and we're all very appreciative of that."
