SOUTHAMPTON, 19 June 2004 — Masters champion Phil Mickelson fired a second round four-under 66 to put himself atop the leaderboard of the US Open here yesterday. First-round leaders Jay Haas and Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama, two shots behind Mickelson, had still to tee off.

Argentina’s Angel Cabrera, who joined Haas and Maruyama at four-under when he completed his round Friday morning, failed to keep the momentum going.

A double bogey on the 18th, his ninth, saw him slip back to two-under with four holes to play.

It was an immaculate performance from the 34-year-old Mickelson, a changed player since his Masters victory in April.

Playing faultless golf, Mickelson picked up two birdies going out and two more on the way back.

World No. 3 Vijay Singh, who began the day level with Mickelson at two-under, struggled to get anything going, mixing birdies and bogeys.

Crowd favorite Fred Funk put himself in the mix with a four-under 66 to go four-under for the championship. The 47-year-old American has never done better than seventh in the US Open and that was back in 1993.

Out of 15 appearances, he has failed to make the cut eight times but with Shinnecock Hills playing less than 7,000 yards the short hitting Funk is not being penalized.

Tiger Woods, who carded a two-over 72 on Thursday, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and reigning British Open champion Ben Curtis was among the late starters yesterday.

Cabrera grabbed a share of the lead in the US Open when he completed his storm-hit first round yesterday. Only a shot back was American Corey Pavin, who won the last US Open to be held here in 1995. A total of 57 players had to complete their first round yesterday after a thunderstorm stopped play for over two hours on Thursday afternoon.

Suneson’s Year of Practice Pays Off in France

In St-Omer, France, Carl Suneson’s decision to take a year off to work on his swing, reaped dividends yesterday when the Spaniard’s second round four-under-par 67 earned him a one-shot lead in the Aa St-Omer Open.

Suneson’s five-under-par 137 is a stroke ahead of overnight leader Kyron Sullivan, Britain’s Murray Urquhart, and Ireland’s Stephen Browne.

Sullivan’s round of 72 kept him in sight of the 18-month European Tour exemption for winning the event combining full tour and Challenge Tour entries.

Urquhart, having missed nine out of the last 10 cuts, asked caddie Scotty Gilmour, 70, to come out of retirement two years after having two knee replacements, to help him this week.

Gilmour has caddied for many of the sport’s great players over several decades, including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Greg Norman.