Golf Events / Editor / 12 May 2007 /

Phil Mickelson has never won the much-coveted Players' Championship title but he lies in the ideal place at the halfway stage of this year's event in Florida.

Mickelson's previous best finish came three years ago when he finished third behind Adam Scott while he has managed just one other top ten finish in 13 appearances on the Stadium Course at Sawgrass.

But the 2007 version of Sawgrass looks much to the liking of the popular left-hander and he holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of this year's tournament - which is shaping up as one of the toughst ever since the championship moved to Florida in 1982.

Mickelson heads the field on five-under-par, one stroke ahead of Australian Nathan Green and with Sean O'Hair, Carl Pettersson and Greens' compatriots Peter Lonard and Rod Pampling a further shot back.

But there are some big names lurking further down the leader board with Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Scott all well within range going into the weekend.

Even Tiger Woods is not without a chance, despite only scraping inside the cut by one shot and he can now be backed at 22 to win if backers fancy the world number one to mount a typical charge over the final two rounds.

In an event where there are only 15 players under-par after the weekend, Mickelson is the clear favourite to triumph and is now trading as low as 3 to win his first Players' title, 1.41 to come in the top five and 1.19 to finish in the top ten.

Furyk is next best and can be backed at 17 to win ahead of O'Hair and Pampling, who are both trading at 19.5.

Nathan Green, winner of the New Zealand Open at the end of last year, looks attractively priced at 21 to win with Pettersson available at 24 ahead of Lonard (25), Chris DiMarco (32) and Singh (34).

The statistics look to be on Mickelson's side going into the weekend, with the Californian having gone on to win 13 times on the 23 occasions that he has held the lead during his career on the PGA Tour.

He is also putting like a demon and has not missed any of the 33 putts he has had when inside ten feet this week on Sawgrass' newly relaid greens.

Mickelson single-putted 13 times on Friday in his level-par second round 72, but that also speaks volumes for his scrambling skills and ability to get up and down from the most unlikeliest of places.

He may have turned to Butch Harmon for help with his driving but much work still lies ahead in that department.

There aren't too many parts of the course that Mickelson hasn't seen this week and he knows he will have to improve in that area if he is to win his second title of 2007 this weekend.

He is still the best placed of Betfair's 'Big Four' of himself, Woods, Singh and Els to triumph against the field though, where the quartet are currently trading at 2.26 against the field's odds of 1.56.

Accuracy has not been a problem for O'Hair so far this week, with the American having hit 25 out of 28 fairways during the first two rounds.

He has also eagled the second hole both the first two days and, if he continues that sort of form, he looks sure to be in the hunt for honours come the closing holes. He is trading at 3.35 to come in the top five and 2.22 to record his second top ten finish of the season.

Pettersson has shown steady improvement every week as the year has progressed and he is well-placed to challenge, as is world number two Furyk who lies just four shots off the pace and looks to be warming to the task nicely. He is trading at 3 to record his third top-five finish in four years at Sawgrass.

DiMarco, 4.4 to come in the top five, is one shot ahead of him on the leader board and victory this week would end a five-year barren spell on the PGA Tour.

But it would be no surprise to see an Australian lifting the trophy on Sunday, with no fewer than nine of them within six strokes of Mickelson.

Green is best placed but Lonard and Pampling have both won on the PGA Tour before and the event has a tendency to throw up surprise winners. The trio are trading around 3.5 to come in the top five.

Further down the field lie Matthew Goggin, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington and Scott and the last two names already know what it's like to win at Sawgrass.

US Open champion Ogilvy and FBR winner Baddeley are available to back at 70 and 95 to win respectively, with Scott a bit shorter at 50.

And Scott, winner of The Players' Championship in 2004, appears well-priced at 7 to finish as top Australian in one of the most fascinating battles this week, with Pampling, Green and Lonard vying for favouritism around the 3.5 mark.

European Ryder Cup veteran Jose Maria Olazabal fought his way back into contention on level-par with a spectacular second round 66, which included six birdies in seven holes, and his odds of 100 to win look appealing.

Like Woods, Singh looked in danger of missing the cut at one stage but three birdies on his back nine on Friday have brought the Fijian back to within six shots of Mickelson and on the same mark as Scott and Ogilvy.

Goosen (48 to win) and South African compatriot Tim Clark (180 to win) are also among the gaggle of players on one-over and are capable of mounting a challenge, especially the former who finished second here last year and was the only player in the first round not to drop a shot.

Woods needs some putts to stop dropping if he to win his 10th title in 13 starts on the PGA Tour but keep an eye out for American Charley Hoffman.

Hoffman started the tournament with a nine at the par-four tenth hole but is five-under-par for his last 35 holes to move back to level par at the halfway stage and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic winner is still available at appealing odds of 200 to win.

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