FORT WORTH, USA- FORMER champion Phil Mickelson, with his renowned short game in sparkling order, grabbed a one-shot lead in the Colonial Invitational second round on Friday.

A stroke off the pace at the start of a hot and blustery day, the American world number two needed only 25 putts to fire a two-under-par 68 at Colonial Country Club.

That left him at seven-under 133, one ahead of overnight leader Johnson Wagner (71) and fellow Americans Matt Kuchar (64) and Brian Gay (65).

Crowd favourite Mickelson, champion here in 2000, began his round on the 10th hole and made an erratic start by sandwiching bogeys at 14 and 16 around a birdie at the 15th.

However, he rolled in a 21-footer to reach the turn in level-par 35, birdied the next two holes and sank clutch par putts on three, four and five to snatch the early lead.

'I'm very happy,' a smiling Mickelson told reporters. 'It was the best putting round I have had all year. Those par putts on three, four and five from about eight to 12 feet kept the round going.

'Even the putts that I missed, I started them on line before they caught some of the lip. It felt great and I putted well yesterday too. I've really been feeling good.'

Colonial fan
Three-times major winner Mickelson, who clinched his 33rd PGA Tour title at Riviera in February, has always enjoyed playing at the prestigious Colonial Country Club.

'It's a golf course that really tests your short game because the lies are so difficult to assess if a ball is going to come out fast or come out dead,' he said. 'I even flubbed one today from a lie that looked like it wasn't that bad.

'It's a great set-up, a great golf course and it's testing all areas of our game.' Wagner, who set the first-round pace with a superb 63 in strong, gusting winds, briefly moved one ahead of the field with a birdie at the par-five 11th.

However, the 28-year-old American bogeyed the par-three 13th before running up a double-bogey six at the 15th where he hit his second shot into water.

Out in two-over 37, he birdied the second after hitting his approach to three feet and parred the last seven holes to edge back into a share of second place.

The cut fell at two-over 142 with 79 players qualifying for the weekend. Among those missing out were American world number five Jim Furyk, eighth-ranked K.J. Choi of South Korea and title holder Rory Sabbatini of South Africa.