A week that began with Phil Mickelson eyeing the top spot in the world rankings ended prematurely Friday when he missed the cut by a significant margin at the Colonial Invitational. On an ideal day for scoring at Colonial Country Club, the American left-hander battled to a three-over-par 73 in the second round to languish near the bottom of the leaderboard. Mickelson, who would have replaced Tiger Woods as world No. 1 for the first time with victory this week, bogeyed three of his last seven holes to lie a distant six strokes off the projected cutline. Mickelson said after posting a four-over total of 144. “This starts my run into the (June 17-20) US Open. It tells me that I have a lot of work to do.” On Thursday, Americans Blake Adams, Jason Bohn and Jeff Overton had all fired seven-under 63. England's Brian Davis was alone in fourth with a six-under 64 while defending champ Steve Stricker fired a 68. There was a group of nine players at 65, including Aussies Nathan Green and Aron Price. They are one shot better than John Daly, who had his first bogey-free round in two years. Davis left immediately after his round to get treatment for an abcess inside his mouth which left his face swollen. Donald stays hot Luke Donald headed the Madrid Masters field in the second round Friday but there was more despair for the Briton's great friend Sergio Garcia. Donald continued to atone for his late collapse in last week's PGA Championship with a second round 67 to lead fellow Briton Rhys Davies (68) by a stroke at the halfway stage on 12 under par. However, Donald's playing partner Garcia missed the cut by two strokes when a 73 left him stranded on one over par. The Spaniard had felt he was turning the corner with his game after 15 months in the golfing wilderness, but another failure caused his shoulders to slump as he disappointed his home fans. His failure to produce the penetrating ball-striking which took him so close to world No. 1 Tiger Woods at the start of 2009 was demonstrated on his first hole of the day, the par-five 10th. “I hit a great drive but then pushed a five-iron and ended up in the water, not the greatest of starts,” the 30-year-old Spaniard said. “A spark comes with rounds of 62 or 63, not 73,” he said. Donald was disappointed to have let slip a six-shot lead, partly through bogeys on his 16th and 17th holes, but happy to be in contention after losing last week's PGA Championship with a double-bogey on the 71st hole at Wentworth. Davies celebrated his 25th birthday by moving alongside Donald after 15 holes but a bogey on the short 17th dropped him back. Fellow Welshman Jamie Donaldson (70) lay third on nine under, with Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell (68) a further stroke adrift.
