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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 3:20 p.m., Thursday, February 26, 2009

Lefty survives another scare at Accenture

By ANDREW BAGNATO
AP Sports Writer

MARANA, Ariz. — Phil the Thrill was at it again.

Phil Mickelson survived another scare at the Accenture Match Play Championship on Thursday, beating Zach Johnson 1-up in a second-round matchup of Masters winners.

The fifth-seeded Mickelson is the highest remaining seed after Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh have gone home.

For the second day in a row, Mickelson staggered to victory.

Mickelson was 4-up with five holes to play, but his lead quickly shrunk to 1-up after Mickelson bogeyed the 14th hole, then watched Johnson birdie the 15th and 17th.

Mickelson finally closed out the match with a par 4 on 18.

"I had a couple chances with a couple of short putts on 14 and 15 that could have ended the match earlier, but he fought hard to extend the match," said Mickelson, who has reached the third round for the first time since 2006, when he lost to David Howell.

The match played out much the same as Mickelson's 19-hole victory over Angel Cabrera in the opening round. Mickelson was 4-up with five to play against Cabrera, who squared the match on the 17th hole.

Mickelson said he has been working on his swing with coach Butch Harmon this week. Mickelson will face Stewart Cink on Friday.

Cink said he's looking forward to the match.

"He has the ability to play really bad for a little while and then just play as well as anybody in the world," Cink said. "So who knows what's going to happen. I just hope I have a decent game of my own tomorrow."