Pacific Palisades, CA – With a mix of big shots and missed under 70 on Friday.
However, Friday's second round was suspended because of darkness. The tournament is still behind schedule because of first-round delays created by problematic winds. The first round wasn't completed until Friday morning, and play will resume Saturday morning at 9:45 a.m. (et).
Eight players still need to complete their second rounds, but those at the top of the leaderboard managed to finish theirs Friday.
Mickelson, coming off last weekend's victory at the Pebble Beach National Pro- Am, sits alone in first at six-under 136. He is one shot in front of Pat Perez, who fired a six-under 65 to move to five-under 137.
Jimmy Walker (66), Matt Kuchar (69), Carl Pettersson (70), Jarrod Lyle (65) and Jonathan Byrd (70) share third place at four-under 138.
J.B. Holmes and Hunter Mahan were within a shot of Mickelson after Thursday, but both dropped down the leaderboard Friday. Holmes carded a two-over 73 and holds a share of 11th at two-under, while Mahan stumbled to a four-over 75 and shares 28th place.
Mickelson, a two-time champion at this event, began at the 10th tee and put together a round of contrasts.
He drained a 28-foot putt for birdie at the par-three 16th, and birdied the par-five first after knocking his third shot within a foot of the cup. The highlight of his round came at the eighth, where he holed a 110-yard wedge shot for eagle.
Mickelson explained that he was in good position after his drive but didn't go directly at the pin because of how the greens have been releasing. He said he was afraid the ball would roll down the hill if he shot at the pin.
"Rather than take a chance, what I tried to do was kind of sling-hook an L- wedge and try to side-spin it towards the hole when it got on the green," Mickelson said. "I could be short or long and be okay. It kind of side spun right in the hole, so it worked out just perfect."
However, Mickelson also missed short par putts at the 18th and seventh, and closed his round with a bogey at No. 9. Despite blasting his first two shots into the rough, he faced a six-foot putt for par. But that attempt missed by inches, and he tapped in for another bogey to finish his 70.
"I left myself uphill par putts on seven and nine, and that's really not a good thing to do here," Mickelson said. "If you're going to make four-, five-, six-footers you really have to have them uphill where you can hit them aggressive enough to hold the line, and they just kind of wobbled off, so I ended up missing those."
Perez climbed up the leaderboard thanks to a bogey-free second round. He opened with a birdie before draining a 26-foot birdie effort at the fifth. On the next hole, a par three, Perez drove within six feet of the hole and sank the putt to move to three-under going around the turn.
He made birdies at 11 and 13, then closed his round at the par-four 18th. He hit his second shot out of the rough, but got it within 11 feet of the pin and drained the mid-range putt to card a 65.
Lyle also had a six-under 65 to move to four-under-par. His bogey-free round featured six birdies, including four on the front nine.
Walker moved into contention by catching fire on the front nine. He birdied one, three, seven and nine thanks to accurate approach shots -- none of the putts were longer than six feet.
NOTES: World No. 1 Luke Donald, making his PGA Tour season debut, posted a one-over 72 and sits and even-par 142, tied for 28th place...Joe Ogilvie carded a hole-in-one at the par-three No. 16. The ball hit the green about 10 feet from pin, then bounced directly to the cup...Anthony Kim was disqualified...Tom Gillis and Robert Garrigus withdrew...Defending champion Aaron Baddeley is at even-par through two rounds...The cut is projected to fall at three-over-par 145. Fred Couples and Rocco Mediate (146), Justin Leonard and Trevor Immelman (147), and Angel Cabrera and amateur Patrick Cantlay (150) will not play the weekend.
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