Mickelson & Olazabal vault up leaderboard

U.S. Masters champion Phil Mickelson and Jose Maria Olazabal rocketed up the leaderboard with sizzling second rounds at the rain-hit BellSouth Classic on Sunday, to sit one stroke back of clubhouse leader Scott McCarron.

With the first two days of the $5 million tournament wiped out by torrential rain, officials have shortened the event to 54 holes.

While there were no disruptions on Sunday, 32 golfers still failed to complete their rounds at the TPC at Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia.

Second round play will resume at 0800 ET on Monday followed immediately by the third and final round and those qualified for the Masters, which starts on Thursday, racing across the state to the Augusta National.

Mickelson confirmed his readiness to defend his Masters crown, rebounding from an opening round 74 to card a seven-under 65.

After wrapping up his first round with three consecutive pars, Mickelson returned to scorch the Greg Norman designed layout, mixing six birdies and an eagle with a single bogey to go five-under through 36 holes.

"I wasn't pleased with my first round but I came back out and birdied three of my first four holes and got some momentum going," said Mickelson.

The American lefthander was joined at five-under 139 by compatriot Billy Mayfair and twice Masters champion Olazabal.

The Spaniard had a wildly contrasting afternoon, going four-over 40 on the front nine and then equalling a course record with a seven-under 29 on the back to finish with a three-under 69.

"I've had 40s before but never with a 29," said Olazabal, Masters champion in 1994 and 1999. "If I can keep playing like this I will approach next week (the Masters) with higher expectations."

McCarron, who has seen two of his three career PGA Tour wins come at the BellSouth, enhanced his title bid with birdies on three of his first four holes to finish with a second consecutive 69 to go six-under 138.

Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA champion, Tag Ridings, Joey Snyder III and Arron Oberholser sit two shots back of the leader at four-under 140.

Trio lead before yet more rain halts play

America's J.L. Lewis, Scott McCarron and Ted Purdy carded three-under 69s to share the clubhouse lead on Saturday in the rain-affected BellSouth Classic in Duluth, Georgia.

American veteran Billy Mayfair's sits at the top of the leaderboard at four-under with five holes still to play in his opening round, which will be completed on Sunday.

After two days of steady rain play finally got underway at the water-logged TPC at Sugarloaf course but inclement weather continued to plague the $5 million tournament.

With the year's first major, the U.S. Masters, set for next week BellSouth organisers are coming under increasing scheduling pressure.

Officials hope to complete first round on Sunday morning followed immediately by the second round play beginning at 0900 local time. If there are no further disruptions plans remain in place for a 36-hole final on Monday.

"It might be difficult for us to finish tomorrow and then play 36," said McCarron. "I don't think we'll be able to do that, whether we go 54 or however we're going to do it.

"But we have a little bit more sunlight going, so you never know."

Playing in challenging, cold, gusting winds, McCarron, who has claimed two of his three PGA Tour wins at the BellSouth (1997, 2001) opened with a bogey at the first but was error free the rest of a difficult day.

Lewis mixed two bogeys with five birdies, including one on his last, while Purdy birdied three of is final six holes to join McCarron at three-under.

Rich Beem, the 2002 PGA champion, and Bo Van Belt sit one shot adrift after finishing their rounds in two-under 70.

U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa opened his account with an even par 72 while Masters champion Phil Mickelson also struggled in the difficult conditions sitting two-over through 15 holes.

Zach Johnson got the defence of his title off to a stuttering start with a three-over 75.

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