Goosen grabs halfway lead

South Africa's Retief Goosen grabbed a one-shot lead on Friday with a four-under-par 68 after the second round of the Doral Championship.

Phil Mickelson, Australian Craig Parry and Asian Tour journeyman Todd Hamilton held a three-way tie for second place on eight-under.

While Goosen finished the day on nine-under-par 135, Mickelson and Hamilton bogeyed their final holes to fall out of the lead.

Despite setting the pace, Goosen was critical of his day's work.

"I'm probably not driving it as well as I would like to," the world number seven said.

"The holes into the wind today, I tended to not quite make good contact and put a bit too much spin on the ball."

Germany's Alex Cejka, Australian Craig Perks and Mark Calcavecchia were at seven-under 137 and two shots off Goosen's lead.

Champion Scott Hoch shot a two-over-par 74 to move to even-par for the championship and a tie for 52nd place while first-round leader Chris Smith slipped down the field in a tie for 25th.

With his 68 on Friday, Goosen ran his streak of rounds at par or below to 27 straight, including his last eight of the 2003 season.

The highest ranked player in a field, Goosen was hoping to live up to his billing.

"I think I like the tougher conditions. I know if I play well, I'm going to get rewarded for it... I prefer it when you have to grind it out there a little bit," said the 2001 U.S. Open champion.

Mickelson, one spot below Goosen in the world rankings, would have been on top of the leaderboard if not for a few missed putts and the par-four 18th.

"I think I just need to get a few breaks on the greens, because I feel like I'm coming close," Mickelson said.

Mickelson bogeyed the 467-yard hole for the second consecutive day. It has played into a strong wind both days.

Tournament officials moved the tees closer Friday and put the pin on the front edge of the green and the finishing hole yielded just 12 birdies. But that was twice as many as it allowed in the opening round.

The Blue Monster's signature hole was lengthened by 24 yards last year and the tee box were relocated to bring the water more into play.

The difficult 18th helped establish the highest cut on tour this season -- surpassing the even-par cut at the Phoenix Open -- at one-over 145 with 79 players advancing to weekend play.

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