Mickelson breaks out of slump

Phil Mickelson broke out of his slump with an 8-under 64 at the Scottish Open.

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson broke out of his slump with an 8-under 64 at the Scottish Open.

His surge leaves him five shots off the second-round lead shared by Alexander Noren and Francesco Molinari.

It was Noren's second straight round of 66 to move to 12 under alongside Molinari, who couldn't match his blistering 62 on Thursday but managed a 70.

Mickelson charged up the leaderboard in an overcast but largely wind-free round at the Castle Stuart links.

The three-time Masters champion broke par for the first time since May. He had an eagle and six birdies, putting him in a strong position for the weekend.

But Peter Whiteford's hole in one during his second round at the Scottish Open came too late to capture the 168 bottles of champagne as a reward.

Whiteford aced the 11th hole with a sweetly struck 7 iron but missed out on the bubbly because Andrew Johnston of England did the same thing on Thursday.

Sponsors put up 168 bottles of Laurent Perrier champagne for each yard of the hole.

"I'll have a word - maybe he can give me a couple," the 327th-ranked Scot said.

Three players have aced that hole in the past 12 months - Philip Price made a hole in one there at the 2011 Scottish Open. Price was one of Johnston's playing partners in the first round.

"It was funny when Phil turned round and said 'I did that last year.' It's an incredible coincidence," Johnston said.

"I think I'm going to have to give quite a few away (of the champagne bottles) or I'll turn into an alcoholic."