Mickelson hit 6-iron at the flag on the par-3 fifth and stared it down until he lost sight of it, and for good reason. It sailed clear over the green, and not even the marshals saw where it went. When he arrived and saw a search party combing through the weeds, it took a second for Mickelson to realize what was going on.

"Hey, Bones," he called out to caddie Jim Mackay, "they're looking for ours?"

They looked hard, but Mickelson eventually walked back up to the tee, again went at the flag and hit it to 10 feet. He missed the putt, and the double bogey dropped him back one shot behind Mallinger.

Mickelson bounced back with a nifty bunker shot to a foot for birdie on the par-5 sixth, then poured it on. He made a 6-foot birdie on No. 8, a 15-foot birdie on No. 10 and spun back a sand wedge to 10 feet for a birdie that gave him a four-shot lead.

"Those were the key birdies," Mickelson said.

Mallinger acquitted himself nicely in only his eighth career start on tour, and first time in contention. He didn't made bogey until the 11th hole, but fell too far behind with a three-putt from 12 feet on the par-5 14th.

That left Mickelson another casual stroll down the 18th fairway, the blue ocean to his left, the sunshine casting long shadows on the emerald green fairways.

Next up for Mickelson is the Nissan Open at Riviera, an unexpected change in his schedule. He hasn't played there since 2001, has never finished better than 15th and has missed the cut in four of his eight starts.

The way he's hitting the ball, he can't wait to get there.

"I have never driven it this well. It's very easy for me to hit fairways," he said. "That's why I'm excited about playing Riviera, I'm excited about playing tight courses. I'm really excited about the year."

Divots:@ Mickelson will move up to No. 4 in the next world ranking. ... Dean Wilson and J.B. Holmes were the only players capable of moving into the top 64 to qualify for the Accenture Match Play Championship, but neither came close. Brett Quigley should easily hold down the No. 64 spot, and if Arron Oberholser doesn't withdraw, Quigley will get Tiger Woods in the first round. ... The Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has been decided by at least three shots each year since 2003, when Davis Love III won by one shot. There hasn't been a playoff at Pebble since 1992. ... Mickelson and Bearing Point CEO Harry You won the pro-am. Tom Watson and son Michael finished second.

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