• Wells Fargo Championship, Round Two

Mickelson jumps into the hunt with ominous 66

Phil Mickelson didn't have any problems with his scoring on Friday © Getty Images

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Phil Mickelson surged into contention at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow with a blistering round of 66 that left him just one off the clubhouse lead.

Mickelson has had problems with water already this week in Charlotte - finding water yet scrambling to make an unlikely par on no fewer than three occasions already - but he didn't let that affect him unduly as he produced a blemish-free round that saw three birdies on either nine to put him at nine-under overall.

The pick of his birdies arguably came on the 11th - his second - as the left-hander extricated his ball from under a tree to knock it within 12 feet and hole the putt.

Nevertheless, the four-time major champion is now only three behind the early half-way leader, Pat Perez, who followed up Thursday's 67 with another impressive round of 65 to secure his spot at 12-under.

Perez's nearest challengers are Bill Haas and Jonathan Byrd, with Lucas Glover tied with Mickelson for fourth.

Englishman Brian Davis was another player to go well early on Friday, firing a 67 that featured just one bogey to put himself a shot behind Vijay Singh (68) at seven-under - a number he was joined at by last week's runner-up, Webb Simpson.

The news was not so good for vaunted American duo Nick Watney and Dustin Johnson, however, as they had rounds of 75 and 79 respectively to put them both seven-over for the tournament and guarantee they will have a weekend off.

Another player who will miss the weekend is defending champion Rory McIlroy, whose level-par 72 was not good enough to extricate him from his three-over hole and ensured there will be no repeat of last season's heroics - where he made the cut on the number before going on to win after a blistering round of 62.

However, the news was better for Sergio Garcia - who needs to post a couple of good finishes to qualify automatically for the US Open and extend a major participation streak that is over a decade long.

The Spaniard posted a second successive round of 69 to sit at six-under and leave himself poised to kick on at the weekend.

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