Mickelson battling to survive cut

Star attraction Phil Mickelson was today battling to make the halfway cut in the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond.

Mickelson, the world number two, could only manage a level-par 71 in the opening round but talked confidently afterwards of shooting a round in the low 60s to boost his hopes of challenging for the title.

However, after 10 holes of his second round the left-hander was still level par and currently one shot outside the predicted cut mark of one under as most of the field took advantage of the soft course and lack of wind.

Starting from the 10th, Mickelson - who lost out to France's Gregory Havret in a play-off here 12 months ago - opened with three straight pars before a bogey on the 13th, the only par five on the back nine and usually a good birdie opportunity.

A birdie did arrive on the next but another run of five pars left the American needing to produce a good finish to guarantee he would be here for the final two rounds over the weekend.

Mickelson was seven shots off the lead held by Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, who was among the later starters, and Sweden's Henrik Stenson.