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Pavin takes narrow halfway lead

Corey Pavin, who has not won on the PGA Tour since he captured this event in 1996, carded a six-under 64 on Friday to grab a one-shot lead at eight-under 132 after two rounds of the Colonial.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson shot a two-under 68 on Friday to get to seven-under par, where he joined Brett Quigley, who posted a six-under 64.

Rocco Mediate fired an eight-under 62 to take sole possession of fourth place at minus-six.

Pavin began the round three shots behind Mickelson and Jim Furyk, but made up ground quickly. He made a tap-in birdie at the first after his 50-foot eagle putt fell just short, then added a 25-footer for birdie at the second and holed out from a greenside bunker for his third birdie in a row.

The 41-year-old bogeyed the 246-yard, par-three fourth when he missed the putting surface from the tee. He reclaimed the lost stroke at seven when he wedged his approach to three feet and birdied nine after he drained a 30-foot putt.

Pavin holed a 12-foot birdie putt at 10 and a 15-footer at the next for his second stretch of three birdies in a row.

Good bunker play during his back nine kept Pavin at the top of the leaderboard. At 12 and 13, Pavin hit into sand traps but blasted out to two feet at each hole to save par. His approach at 15 plugged into the lip of a greenside bunker but he got out to seven feet and rolled home the par save.

Pavin birdied the 16th with a two-footer, but he bogeyed the final hole to finish in the lead at eight-under.

His win here in 1996 marked the last of his 14 PGA Tour victories. Pavin became the youngest winner ever here when he titled in 1985.

"I feel a lot more comfortable on the golf course than I have in a long time," said Pavin, whose 64 on Friday was his lowest round on tour since he posted the same score in the Colonial two years ago. "My swing is actually better than it has ever been, and coming back to Colonial helps me. I like playing Colonial."

Mickelson started on the back nine of the Colonial Country Club and made up for an early bogey with a six-foot birdie putt at 15. He added a 15-footer for birdie at 18 to get to six-under par.

The lefthander picked up where he left off on his first nine with a birdie at one and a four-foot birdie at the second to tie Pavin for the lead. Mickelson missed the fairway off the tee on five, six and seven but still saved par.

At eight, Mickelson watched as his 40-foot birdie putt broke away from the hole at the last second. He missed the two-foot return putt to fall into second, where he remained after he parred nine.

"Today was one of those days where I putted well and didn't get a whole lot out of it," said Mickelson, who can join Ben Hogan as the only players to win this event in consecutive years.

Quigley was flawless on Friday with six birdies and no bogeys. His birdie at No. 9 jumped him into a tie for second.

Mediate made a pair of 30-footers on Friday and capped his round with a downhill 15-footer for birdie at 16.

Texas native Blaine McCallister joined Scott McCarron, Jeff Sluman, Brian Gay, Kirk Triplett and 1995 champion Tom Lehman in a tie for fifth at five-under 135.

Furyk struggled to a one-over 71 on Friday and is tied for 11th with Justin Leonard and Jonathan Kaye at minus-four.

Bruce Lietzke, who is competing in his final event on the PGA Tour before moving to the Senior Tour in July, carded his second one-over 71 to survive the cut by one shot at plus-two. Among the notable players who did not qualify for the weekend were Fred Couples, Mark Calcavecchia and 1994 champion Nick Price.

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