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A trio of bogeys left him at two over after
nine holes but the American lefty, who started on the back nine,
came alive in the latter half of the second round, carding
three-under par 69 after draining a 22-foot-plus putt for birdie
on the par-four ninth to wild applause at the Ocean Course.
"I had to be patient but I was able to make a few birdies
there," said the five-time major winner.
"I'm heading into the weekend with an opportunity."
The 50-year-old will become the oldest major winner if he can
fend off a stacked field of competitors and survive windy
conditions that have derailed others, with his brother on the
bag.
"My brother has been doing a phenomenal job judging the wind,"
said Mickelson. "Making that kind of adjustment is very
difficult to do and he's been doing a phenomenal job."
Standing between him and golf history is Oosthuizen (67), who
nimbly navigated tough conditions to put up five birdies.
The 2010 Open Champion hit greens consistently but was cruelly
deprived of a perfect round - and the outright lead - after a
missed putt led to a bogey on the par-four 18.
"It's going to be probably up there as one of my best (rounds),"
the 38-year-old said in a televised interview. "It was tough
today - I'm just glad that I was striking really good."
Rounding out the top three was American Brooks Koepka (71), who
showed flashes of brilliance with a pair of eagles but struggled
with uneven play with four bogeys two months after undergoing
knee surgery.
"It's definitely a ball strikers' golf course," said Koepka, who
ended the day one stroke back from the lead. "I'm four under so
I feel alright."
Reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (69) of Japan nearly
ended the day tied with two-time PGA Championship winner Koepka
after putting up six birdies, but a bogey on 18 saw him slip
into a three-way tie for fourth with South Africans Branden
Grace (71) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (70).
The blustery Kiawah Island course pulled no punches, flummoxing
a stacked field that failed to produce a single bogey-free round
through the first two days.
Overnight leader Canadian Corey Conners (75) saw his lead
evaporate as he stumbled into five bogeys in the first six holes
starting off the back nine, with four birdies the only reminder
of his effortless, five-under-par first-round performance.
World number one Dustin Johnson turned in a disastrous
two-over-par performance to miss the projected cut along with
second-ranked American Justin Thomas.
Johnson, who also missed the cut at last month's Masters, was
the first world number one to miss the cut at consecutive majors
since 1997.
(Reporting by Andrew Both; writing by Amy Tennery; Editing by
Pritha Sarkar, Kevin Liffey and Daniel Wallis)
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