Tiger only gains one stroke on field

By TIM DAHLBERG / AP Sports Writer

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Phil Mickelson had golf's rarest number in sight, flirting with a 59 before a missed 3-footer brought him down. He finished with a number that is becoming increasingly common in the birdiefest known as the Las Vegas Invitational.

Mickelson had seven consecutive birdies to shoot 28 on his front nine, but stumbled on his final nine to finish at 9-under 63 Thursday. It was one of four 63s posted in ideal conditions, and another five golfers shot 64.

Mickelson was three shots off the lead held by Duffy Waldorf, Billy Mayfair and Bill Glasson at 16-under -- with three full rounds still to play on desert courses that have so far offered little in defense to the assault on par.

"On this golf course you can birdie every hole out there," Mickelson said. "It's just not much of a challenge for these guys."

Waldorf and Mayfair also shot 63s, while Glasson had a 65 to tie for the lead after two rounds of the 90-hole event.

But it was Mickelson who provided the excitement for the day, shooting an 8-under 28 on his front side at the par-72 TPC Summerlin course, matching the nine-hole record for the year and only one stroke off the all-time PGA record.

Mickelson birdied the last seven holes on his front side, the most on the tour this year and only one off the tour consecutive birdie record.

"Obviously, I was thinking 59," Mickelson said. "All it took was a 31 on the front side."

Mickelson got to 9-under with a birdie on his 12th hole, but lipped out a 3-footer for birdie on the next hole that seemed to cool him off.

He still had a chance to become the third player in tour history to shoot 59 -- and the second in the Las Vegas Invitational -- before pulling a drive into the trees and making bogey on his 16th hole. Mickelson played the last three holes 1-over to finish at 63.

"After making the birdie on three (his 12th hole) I'm thinking I need two more birdies and then you have number nine," Mickelson said. "When I missed that short one, that took the wind out of it."

Mickelson's 63 came on a day when calm wind, soft greens and smooth putts combined again for some of the lowest scores of the year.

Just how low the scores were showed when defending champion Tiger Woods shot 8-under 64 and could gain only one stroke on the leaders. Woods, who shot his score at the Las Vegas Country Club, was four shots behind at 12-under 132.

Woods eagled the par-5 ninth hole after hitting a 9-iron for his second shot to 12 feet, then birdied the last two holes to cap his round.

"It feels good to get back in the tournament," said Woods, who will play his final three days on the TPC Summerlin course where he won his first pro tournament a year ago. "I'm enjoying this. I'm glad to get my game going in a more positive flow."

Waldorf, one of those shooting 63, said the winning score could be even lower than the 27-under shot by Woods last year if the wind doesn't blow the final three days. So far, the wind has been calm and the rough nearly non-existent.

"If the weather stays calm, it could be quite a number," Waldorf said. "You need so many birdies in this tournament."

Mickelson said his goal going into the tournament was to average 6-under a day, a pace that would bring him to 30-under Sunday afternoon.

He bettered that Thursday, but so did many of his competitors on a day that saw two-thirds of the field break par.

DIVOTS: The all-time PGA scoring record for nine holes is 27, a mark set by Mike Souchak in the 1955 Texas Open and matched by Andy North in the 1975 B.C. Open. Souchak shot his on a par-35 nine and North had his on a par-34 nine, while Mickelson's was on a par-36 nine. ... Mickelson on the Ryder Cup loss: "It's not that big of a deal. We tried as hard as we could."... Glasson refused to talk to the media after shooting a 65 to tie for the lead. "I've got nothing to say," he said. ... Fred Couples on his Ryder Cup experience with Woods: "A lot of us wanted to see what Tiger was all about. We didn't really know him and now we know he's a great guy."

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