2014 U.S. Open leaderboard: Phil Mickelson tries to make it interesting at Pinehurst

Martin Kaymer has been a good player for years now. He is a major champion. He has been No. 1 in the world. But I am not sure anyone really saw this performance coming. After shooting a record-setting 65 yesterday, Kaymer backed it up by doing the exact same thing today. It appears as if everyone will be playing for second behind Kaymer this weekend. The field will need to play lights out and hope Kaymer slips up.

One of the guys chasing Kaymer is the sentimental favorite and six-time U.S. Open runner-up, Phil Mickelson.

When Mickelson finished his round yesterday, he was only two strokes off the lead. As the afternoon wave finished up, that deficit grew to five strokes. But today, before Phil even hit the course, he found himself a full 10 shots back as he stuck his peg in the ground.

While many are ready to concede the championship to Kaymer after his second 65 in as many days, Phil is not one of those people. A par at the first got Phil off to a good enough start.

With his second shot on the long par-4 second hole, Mickelson hit a beautiful iron shot that ran up the front of the green and settled near the hole. He made the putt for birdie to get to 1-under.

At the drivable par-4 third hole, playing the easiest on the course, Phil elected to lay up and hit 3-wood off the tee. Lefty played a beautiful high cut that came to rest 20 yards short of the green. A nice up-and-down gave Phil another birdie and we were off and running at 2-under through his first three.

It should be noted that Mickelson has stopped using the “claw” grip for now. He reportedly spent a lot of time yesterday at the putting green after his opening round. It looked like he might have found a putting stroke he could work with early in the round on Friday.

But that momentum of the first three holes was stopped quickly during a brutal two-hole stretch at the fifth and sixth. At No. 5, Phil had a reasonable enough chance at another red number and it looked like he put his ball right in the center. He wanted to chase after it and was ready to keep the momentum going for a super-low front nine. But the ball blew by just on the edge, and Mickelson was incredulous.

That miss was unfortunate, but it would get worse at the par-3 sixth. Mickelson missed a pretty easy bunny par putt, once again bringing the biggest weakness in his game to the fore. He called his putting “pathetic” last week in Memphis, and that was a less than impressive effort on those two holes. It was a huge two-shot swing on a day when there’s little margin for error with the chase so desperate.

Pre-tournament favorite Rory McIlroy is also on the course this afternoon. His play continues to be pretty ordinary for a guy many thought could win this tournament. He’s 1-over and has a ton of work to do if he plans on contending this weekend.

Will Mickelson parlay a few early birdies into a weekend run? Will Rory finally make a charge? Maybe. But if Kaymer continues to play the way he has through two rounds, it won’t matter.

Here is a look at the leaders as we head towards “happy hour” on Friday: