Fowler pulls away from Memorial field

Dirt bike racing enthusiast Rickie Fowler is in position to leave the rest of the Memorial field in his dust after shooting a 6-under-par 66 in the second round yesterday at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

By following up his first-round 65, the 21-year-old former Oklahoma State standout built a three-shot lead over Justin Rose and tied the tournament's 36-hole scoring record set by Scott Hoch in 1987. By the time the Golf Channel began its 3 p.m. coverage, Fowler already had posted his score, which included an eagle on No. 15. Now he's looking forward to what could be a very big weekend for an emerging talent in search of his first PGA Tour victory.

First-time winners are a rarity at the Memorial, the last one being Tom Lehman in 1994. But that doesn't mean Fowler should be ruled out, especially because young first-time winners have been in vogue of late, with Rory McIlroy winning at Quail Hollow two days before his 21st birthday and Jason Day winning the Byron Nelson Championship at age 22 two weeks ago.

After his round, Fowler didn't seemed nervous about his position, saying: "Just being in contention the few times I have over the last eight months, this if by far the best I've felt."

Fowler, who ran off three straight birdies late in his round yesterday, didn't turn pro until last summer, but he doesn't play like a PGA Tour rookie. He lost a playoff last fall and finished one shot back in the Phoenix Open in February. Though he drew a lot of criticism for laying up at a crucial point in the Phoenix tournament, most people who have followed his career describe him as fearless.

That will make watching him this weekend a lot of fun. Many people have likened his aggressive swing to that of Lanny Wadkins. But Fowler, who plays at a fast pace and doesn't like to get too analytical about his swing, has his own sense of style, accentuated by an oversized Puma cap and baggy pants. He's definitely his own man and has the ability to attract a lot of fans if he can ring up a few victories. No doubt there's nothing he would rather do than nail down his first victory this weekend.

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Phil Mickelson's second-round 71 was a roller-coaster ride that might have cost him a chance to overtake Tiger Woods for the No. 1 ranking. Mickelson needs a victory and a less-than-fourth-place finish by Woods to grab the top spot. But Mickelson finds himself seven shots off the pace after falling victim to a bogey binge in the middle of his round.

He appeared to be headed for a good score after a birdie-birdie-eagle stretch on the front nine before missing four par putts through the 16th hole. He drained an unlikely birdie putt on No. 17 after hooking his drive into the rough to turn things around. After a weather delay, he returned to the course and closed with a birdie to put himself in a better frame of mind entering today's play.

Still he was left lamenting a lost opportunity, saying: "It's frustrating for me because I played very well and didn't shoot the number I thought I should."

Most of yesterday's coverage on the Golf Channel focused on Mickelson, and he opened himself to some second-guessing when he decided to go for the green on the 363-yard par-4 14th hole. His 337-yard drive came up about 76 feet short of the pin just off the green. But he eventually settled for par after missing a 6-foot birdie putt.

Mickelson said after his round that he would not have taken that aggressive approach had he not missed the fairway with his previous tee shot on the par-4 13th.

Welcome to Phil's World. But good luck trying to figure it out

“I have never gone an entire round hitting every fairway,” Mickelson said, “and I hit every fairway through 11, 12 holes. When I missed it on 13, I thought I’d hit driver on 14 because it didn’t matter. If I had hit that fairway on 13, I would have hit iron on 14. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s the way I was thinking.”

Uh, OK. Whatever you say, Phil.

Information from PGATOUR.com, Golf.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.