McCarron leads by three as Phil

Mickelson loses momentum

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Phil Mickelson failed to build on an impressive start at the Northern Trust Open to leave fellow American Scott McCarron with a three-shot lead after two rounds of the event at Riviera Country Club, near Los Angeles in California
It's been an unimpressive start to the year for Mickelson, who has missed one cut and finished 42nd and 55th in his other two events, but the world's fifth-ranked player looked to be on his way to turning things around after an eight-under-par 63 gave him the lead after the first round.
Mickelson's momentum continued early in the second round when he sank a 28-footer on the first hole for an eagle that moved him to 10-under. But he immediately gave that shot back with a bogey at the par-4 second hole. Three more bogeys ensured he had to settle for a one-over 72.
At seven-under 135 through 36 holes, Mickelson is three shots behind leader McCarron, who also has struggled this year.
McCarron, who underwent elbow surgery in 2006 and missed the entire following year, shot a three-under 68, moving to 10-under 132 overall.
After missing the cut last week at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and not finishing better than 34th in his previous three events, McCarron finds himself two strokes ahead of three golfers as he seeks his first win since claiming the BellSouth Classic in 2001.
Steve Stricker (66), Tommy Armour III (67) are both two shots off the lead.
Joining Mickelson at seven-under are Englishman Luke Donald (69), Rory Sabbatini (67), Pat Perez (66), K J Choi (69) and Geoff Ogilvy (67).
"Obviously, I've got to get things turned around," Mickelson said. "This is the first time I'm in contention heading into the weekend and I'm excited about it."
Glasgow's Martin Laird continued his dismal start to the 2009 season by missing another cut.
Martin was in good company as he made his exit - Padraig Harrington also failed to make it through to the weekend action.
Harrington will not be panicking yet, but surviving only one of his last five halfway cuts in America was definitely not what he had in mind after winning back-to-back majors last season.
The world number three's latest had a two-over-par total of 142 - three too many to beat the cut.
He began the year with a fifth-place finish in Abu Dhabi, but said there: "I don't think I've ever teed it up on a Thursday not been a little bit concerned about the cut."
He added: "You want to play four rounds and make sure you're in there competing. I've seen a lot of players start a run from scraping a cut and they relax on the weekend to shoot a good score, so, every week, to play four rounds is essential."
A change of format might help the Dubliner at the moment and he will have that next week in the Accenture World Match Play in Arizona, where he is due to play American Pat Perez, winner of last month's Bob Hope Classic, in Wednesday's opening round.
There is also still nearly seven weeks to go to the start of The Masters at Augusta and his attempt to win a third successive major - this time, of course, with Tiger Woods in the field.
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