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It took 30 holes for Phil Mickelson to face some adversity at the 145th Open Championship.

It happened on his 30th hole when Mickelson finally made his first bogey -- long overdue for someone who plays golf with the volatility of Mickelson.

It was also on his 30th hole that we finally got a proper Open as the wind and the rain started to pick up just as Mickelson traipsed down the back nine at Royal Troon. He knew that meant he would have to hold on to his rain slicker for dear life coming home. He'd extended his score to 11 under and his lead to four before the 30th hole with birdies in three of his first 11 on Friday, so there was some wiggle room for him as his second round came to a close.

He needed it.

Mickelson slipped a little coming to the house but still fired a 69 in the second round for a 36-hole total of 10-under 132, which will likely lead going into the weekend. That 10 under mark would have led by three the last time the Open was played here in 2004 and would have made a playoff if it held up through Sunday.

Mickelson's 132 is also the Royal Troon 36-hole scoring record, cracking Darren Clarke's 133 in 1997.

"It felt pretty good," Mickelson told Golf Channel of the 69 in a driving rainstorm for part of his round. "The conditions made it tough. With the rain as well as the wind. It made it more difficult. I enjoy coming over and facing that challenge."

Mickelson played most of the day with two black gloves on (he even putted with them), no umbrella and a binder clip on his apparently too-big hat to keep it steady in the wind. He looked like an amateur who snuck on the course near sunset for a few holes. He didn't play like it though.

Lefty has left himself room for some mistakes on a weekend in which he will presumably lead, but he hasn't made many of them through the first two rounds. He pulled irons over and over again off the tee on Friday and took advantage of some softer greens with approach shots and par-3 shots like this one on the Postage Stamp.

That wasn't an anomaly, either. He hit over 70 percent of fairways and nearly 70 percent of greens. For someone who rolls it like Mickelson usually does, that's a perfect formula for winning an Open. It was a day we thought would be Biblical but was only a slightly above average (if that) Scottish rainstorm. Mickelson probably got the good side of the draw as the wind held off on Thursday afternoon when he scared 62 and didn't do much on Friday morning despite the precipitation.

So now Lefty heads to the weekend with some monster names chasing him. Henrik Stenson is right there at one back after his 65 on Friday. Zach Johnson is lingering. Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Justin Thomas are lurking.

Beware, too: Dustin Johnson led at 10 under last year at St. Andrews at the halfway point. He went on to finish T49. Only one of the last four 36-hole leaders has gone on to hoist the Claret Jug (Rory McIlroy in 2014). The tournament is in Mickelson's hands but that has gone poorly before. And it hasn't even gone all that well on this course historically.

"I think it's a lot easier for me having already held it," Mickelson told Golf Channel. "I know that when I go to Augusta knowing I've already won there and I'm in that champions group, it takes a little bit of the pressure off. This challenge of winning the Open here was the greatest challenge of my career, and I've already done it. That takes a lot of the pressure off. It would be great to add to it. I would love nothing more than to add another one."

Given that this is the first time he's ever led at the halfway point of an Open, he'll have the best chance of his career to add major No. 6 this weekend.