US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT, SCORES

Graeme McDowell leads at halfway as Mickelson (66) charges

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell shot a second-round 68 to lead the 110th US Open at the halfway stage in California as Masters champion Phil Mickelson stormed into contention.

The recently crowned Celtic Manor Wales Open champion from Portrush carded six birdies and three bogeys at Pebble Beach Golf Links on Friday to reach three under par after 36 holes and give himself a two-stroke lead over fellow early starters Ernie Els, Ryo Ishikawa and Dustin Johnson.
Five-time US Open runner-up Mickelson vaulted from four over par to one under after a thrilling round of 66. England's Paul Casey and fellow overnight co-leader Brendon De Jonge of Zimbabwe are a further shot behind on level par after 73s, alongside American Jerry Kelly (70) and Alex Cejka (72) of Germany.
McDowell, 30, had started at level par but reached the turn at two under thanks to an eventful four-birdie, two-bogey opening nine holes from the 10th tee. He added more birdies at the par-four fourth and par-five sixth before closing with a three-putt bogey at the par-four ninth hole.
Two shots behind the Northern Irishman in the clubhouse were Americans Mickelson and Johnson, Japanese teenager Ishikawa and South African Els, who also shot a 68 to outscore marquee playing partners Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods by three and four shots respectively. World number one Woods finished at four over.
Johnson carded a 70 while Ishikawa, 18, shot a level-par 71 but the round of the day belonged to Mickelson, whose 66 featured five birdies in his first eight holes before adding a bogey and a birdie on his inward nine, having gone birdie-free in a first round plagued by putting troubles.
First round co-leader Casey recovered from a triple-bogey on his outward nine, at the par-five 14th, to card a 73 that kept him two strokes behind McDowell on level par.
There were mixed fortunes for Casey's fellow Englishmen in the world's top 10 - number three Westwood, number six Luke Donald and eighth-ranked Ian Poulter.
Poulter dropped two strokes to finish at one over following a 73, Westwood (71) reached halfway at three over alongside compatriot Ross McGowan (73) and Donald slipped to four over after a 75, level with Ireland's Padraig Harrington (73).
Northern Ireland's world No.10 Rory McIlroy missed the cut following a 77 that left him at 10 over, three shots the wrong side of the cut line. Rhys Davies of Wales did made it to the weekend on his US Open debut, his 70 leaving him at six over, while Northern Ireland's Gareth Maybin eagled the last for a 75 to sneak in at seven over.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
139 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 71 68
141 Phil Mickelson 75 66, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 70 71, Dustin Johnson 71 70, Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 68
142 Jerry Kelly 72 70, Brendon De Jonge 69 73, Paul Casey (Eng) 69 73, Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 72
143 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 71, K J Choi (Kor) 70 73, Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 73
144 Scott Langley 75 69, Tim Clark (Rsa) 72 72, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 71
145 Jason Dufner 72 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 71, Jason Allred 72 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 74 71, Shaun Micheel 69 76, Justin Leonard 72 73, Jason Preeo 75 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 70 75, Ross McGowan (Eng) 72 73, Lee Westwood (Eng) 74 71
146 Tiger Woods 74 72, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 74 72, Lucas Glover 73 73, David Toms 71 75, Matt Kuchar 74 72, Matt Bettencourt 72 74, Fred Funk 74 72, Vijay Singh (Fij) 74 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 71 75, Scott Verplank 72 74, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 73 73
147 Nick Watney 76 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 75 72, Steve Wheatcroft 74 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 75 72, Sean O'Hair 76 71, Jim Furyk 72 75, Russell Henley 73 74, Bo Van Pelt 72 75, Camilo Villegas (Col) 78 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 75 72, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 77 70
148 Matthew Richardson (Eng) 73 75, Eric Axley 75 73, Ben Curtis 78 70, David Duval 75 73, Rhys Davies (Wal) 78 70, Erick Justesen 74 74, Ricky Barnes 72 76, Steve Marino 73 75, Robert Allenby (Aus) 74 74, Craig Barlow 73 75, Ryan Moore 75 73
149 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 76, Ty Tryon 75 74, John Mallinger 77 72, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 73 76, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 74 75, Peter Hanson (Swe) 73 76, Mike Weir (Can) 70 79, Pablo Martin (Spa) 73 76, Jason Gore 76 73, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 73 76, Steve Stricker 75 74, Kent Jones 73 76, Chris Stroud 77 72, Zach Johnson 72 77, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 75 74, Gareth Maybin (NIrl) 74 75, Davis Love III 75 74, Tom Watson 78 71, Stewart Cink 76 73, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 72 77, Kenny Perry 72 77, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 77 72, Jim Herman 76 73, Robert Gates 75 74, Brandt Snedeker 75 74
MISSED THE CUT
150 Hugo Leon 73 77, Adam Scott (Aus) 77 73, Hudson Swafford 76 74, Ross Fisher (Eng) 74 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 79 71, Tom Lehman 76 74, David Frost (Rsa) 73 77, Simon Dyson (Eng) 76 74, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 80 70, Azuma Yano (Jpn) 74 76, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 75 75, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 74 76, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 73 77, Morgan Hoffmann 75 75, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 75 75
151 Kenny Kim (Swe) 78 73, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 74 77, Brian Gay 78 73, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 75 76, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 77 74, Simon Khan (Eng) 76 75, J J Henry 79 72, John Rollins 74 77, Marc Leishman (Aus) 77 74, Rich Barcelo 77 74
152 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 75 77, Gary Woodland 76 76, Steve Allan (Aus) 78 74, Heath Slocum 75 77, Hunter Mahan 78 74, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 75 77, Ben Crane 80 72, Paul Goydos 76 76, Jon Curran 75 77
153 Michael Sim (Aus) 77 76, Gary Boyd (Eng) 78 75, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 80 73
154 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 79 75, Charles Warren 75 79, Kaname Yokoo (Jpn) 76 78, Brian Davis (Eng) 80 74, Andrew Putnam 76 78, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 79 75, John Senden (Aus) 80 74, James Morrison (Eng) 78 76, Jerry Smith 78 76, Bob Estes 77 77, Joseph Bramlett 79 75, Rocco Mediate 77 77
155 Ben Martin 78 77, Kent Eger (Can) 76 79, Harrison Frazar 78 77, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 76 79, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 77 78
156 Kevin Na 80 76, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 80 76, Daniel Summerhays 79 77, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 73 83
157 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 80 77, Travis Hampshire 81 76, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 78 79
158 Erik Compton 77 81, Soren Hansen (Den) 78 80, Kevin Phelan 83 75, Dan McCarthy 80 78, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 81 77, Stephen Ames (Can) 74 84
159 Derek Lamely 78 81
161 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 78 83
163 Alex Martin 79 84
164 Mark Silvers 82 82
165 Blaine Peffley 86 79
166 Bennett Blakeman 81 85