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Bohn Takes Lead At Wachovia

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The Associated Press

Published: May 3, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - As Phil Mickelson's round imploded with a series of wayward shots, the Wachovia Championship flew in a different direction.
Jason Bohn fired a 5-under 67 on Friday to take a two-shot lead at 9 under after the second round, while Mickelson's double bogey on Quail Hollow Club's easiest hole began a horrible closing stretch that left him seven shots back.

Anthony Kim's 67 put him at 7 under and alone in second place, while 2006 champion Jim Furyk, Dudley Hart and George McNeill were three strokes back after 67s.

Mickelson, the biggest draw in this event with defending champion Tiger Woods home nursing his surgically repaired left knee, finished with two double bogeys in his final four holes on the way to a 74.

While Mickelson was hitting his ball into the creek on No. 18 for another double bogey, the loose Bohn was joking with reporters.

Bohn, whose sixth-place finish at the Verizon Heritage two weeks ago secured his playing privileges after his injury-filled 2007, followed his 68 Thursday with six birdies and a bogey.

"I'm just excited to play. I don't have a lot of pressure now that my medical status is taken care of," Bohn said. "I can just go out and free swing it."

Mickelson's free swinging got him into trouble, a day after a 68 left him a shot behind first-round leader David Toms.

With an afternoon tee time Friday, Mickelson birdied the 10th hole to get to 6 under. He missed a birdie putt at No. 14, then strolled to the par-5 15th looking to pick up at least a shot with the leaders at 8 under.

The 15th had a scoring average of about 4 1/2 , and is the last good chance to gain ground before the difficult closing three holes.

But Mickelson pulled his tee shot into the left rough. His second shot was even worse, going nearly straight left. While the ball just cleared the water, it nestled in a horrible lie of pine straw at the base of a tree.

Mickelson hacked at his sunken ball, and it dribbled 30 feet. His fourth shot landed in front of the greenside bunker. A chip shot and two putts later, Mickelson had a 7 and had fallen five shots behind after Bohn had birdied the same hole in the group ahead of him.

Mickelson parred 16 and 17 before his waterlogged finish left him with plenty of work to do to win this tournament for the first time.

"There was a low round out there and I let it slide," Mickelson said. "The last four or five holes, I made a few mistakes that cost me."

Toms, who has been fighting a sore back for two years, couldn't build off his best round this year. Toms slogged through a 3-over 75 that left him tied with Mickelson for 25th place.

LPGA: Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa played together for the first 36 holes at the SemGroup Championship in Broken Arrow, Okla., battling a vicious wind that came from two directions and getting two very different results.

Creamer has made enough birdies that another sloppy finish - two bogeys on the final three holes - still left her satisfied. She shot an even-par 71 and was the only player remaining under par at Cedar Ridge, giving her a one-shot lead over Ji Young Oh.

Ochoa was six shots behind after a 3-over 74, the first time since the 2006 Women's British Open that she has had two rounds over par in the same tournament. Even more troublesome was that Ochoa, going for her record-tying fifth consecutive LPGA Tour victory, finished the second round without a birdie.

It was the first time in more than two years Ochoa played a round without a birdie, and she has gone 26 holes without a birdie or an eagle at Cedar Ridge.

CHAMPIONS: Nick Price shot a season-best 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over fellow major champion Mark O'Meara after the first round of the FedEx Kinko's Classic in Lakeway, Texas.
Defending champion Scott Hoch was two strokes back at 67 along with D.A. Weibring, Fred Funk, Denis Watson and Tom McKnight.

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