PINEHURST, N.C. -- At least Phil Mickelson probably wont face another close call at the U.S. Open. The six-time runner-up and zero-time champion slipped well off the pace Friday with a 73 that left him at 3 over -- 13 strokes behind record-setting leader Martin Kaymer. Its mostly because of his putter. After ditching the claw grip in favour of a more traditional one, Mickelson missed a series of putts that would have put him at least a little closer to Kaymer. "The hole looks like a thimble to me right now," Mickelson said. "Im having a hard time finding it." Now, at a tournament where everybodys seemingly playing for second, hes facing quite a climb to claw back within striking distance on a Pinehurst No. 2 course that 15 years ago was the site of the first of his many second-place finishes. Teenage playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick called Mickelson "the master" of "getting out of trouble" and that ability certainly will be put to the test this weekend. "I feel like Im playing well enough to win the U.S. Open," Mickelson said. "Except for putting." Mickelson has been saying his putting could use some tweaking. Hes 100th among PGA Tour players in total putting this year after finishing 11th in that stat in 2013. So in an attempt to get his stroke back, he switched to a claw grip for the Open. Even after he shot even par during the first round, he said he wasnt sure how long hed stick with it. All of 18 holes, it turned out. "I felt like I identified what I was struggling with, and I thought it was my eye line had gotten well over the golf ball," Mickelson said. "So as I moved the ball away and put my eyes over the ball instead of over the top, I felt like thats how I putted last year, so I went back to my regular grip." Reverting back to the conventional grip for Round 2, Mickelson got off to an encouraging start with birdies on consecutive early holes. Then came the pesky par-3 sixth that "shook me a little bit." Mickelson plopped his tee shot onto the green, but three-putted for a four after his short par attempt hugged the lip of the cup before spinning out. Two holes later, he pushed his short putt wide left and settled for bogey -- the second straight day he bogeyed both holes. "After that," he said, "I was really fighting it." He added bogeys on two holes he birdied a day earlier -- on the par-5 10th, and on the 14th after spinning another short par putt around the lip of the cup. He ended his round by missing an 11-foot par putt on the 18th and tapping in for his fifth bogey. "Whenever you putt well and you make short ones and you make those 5-, 6-footers and youre running a couple of 20-footers in, the game feels easy," Mickelson said. "You dont put pressure on yourself to hit it close. You can hit more of the middle of the greens. Your ball striking then becomes a lot easier. Your targets are a lot bigger." Because that hasnt happened here yet, it sure looks like when Mickelson turns 44 on Monday, hell still be one victory shy of the career Grand Slam. The three-time Masters champ, 2005 PGA Championship winner and 2013 British Open champion began his run of runner-ups at this course 15 years ago when it staged its first Open. He was preparing for a playoff with the late Payne Stewart when Stewart sank a memorable 15-foot putt for par and the win -- and a statue of Stewart in that moment stands just beyond the green on 18. Mickelson led by a stroke heading into the last hole at Winged Foot in 2006 but finished with a double bogey. Last year, at Merion he led during the final round but finished two strokes behind Justin Rose. But after the way his putter struggled in Round 2, second place doesnt sound too bad. Besides, hes only seven strokes behind Brendon Todd for second. "Im not overly optimistic. Obviously Im not in good position, but more than that ... you cant fire at a lot of the pins," he said. "Youve got to make 25-, 30-footers, Im just not doing it. Im not going to give up. You just never know. Ive had rounds that kind of clicked. ... Tomorrow, I need to shoot 6- or 7-under par to have a realistic chance." Penguins Jerseys China . Joakim Nordstrom and Garret Ross also scored for Chicago and Corey Crawford made 30 saves. Tomas Tatar scored twice for Red Wings (2-3-0), Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and Gustav Nyquist had three assists. Stitched Penguins Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Florida – Its been almost seven years since the Blue Jays last won a series at Tropicana Field. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/. -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance. Penguins Jerseys 2020 . Nothing pretty. But this is 1/4 World Cup. Usually plays out this way. Fake Penguins Jerseys . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer.TORONTO – Aaron Sanchez has arrived. Its the ultimate future-meets-now moment for a franchise at a crossroads. The Blue Jays are hoping a guy who the club expects to be at the centre of successful seasons down the road can contribute to the playoff push of the present. Sanchez will do so out of the bullpen, at least at the beginning, because the Jays wish to manage his innings. Manager John Gibbons will use Sanchez in high-leverage situations, although hed like to allow Sanchez to get his feet wet with nobody on base. His first appearance likely will be at the start of an inning. “Hes here to help us, not just here to be here and fill a role and we think he will,” said Gibbons. “You guys all know what kind of arm hes got. Its his first time there, but we plan on using him. Were not going to baby him, but well keep an eye on him.” Sanchez threw about 110 innings last season between Single-A Dunedin and the Arizona Fall League. Hes at 100 1/3 innings so far this year, the bulk of which were with Double-A New Hampshire. Sanchez made six starts for Triple-A Buffalo, but his last two appearances were in relief. He was moved to the bullpen after the All-Star break in anticipation of his promotion to the Blue Jays. With a 20-per cent innings increase planned for this season, Sanchez has about 30 innings to pitch for Toronto. If hes good, Sanchez addresses a need for the Blue Jays: a right-handed arm to help Dustin McGowan bridge the gap to closer Casey Janssen. It would allow general manager Alex Anthopoulos to focus on another area of need, specifically the infield. “Coming out of the ‘pen, I dont think its going to be that hard,” said Sanchez. “Ive done it a couple of times down there and I adapted to it fast my first couple of times. I had the normal soreness, just because we had three days off going from the All-Star break, but after my second outing I bounced back real quick.” Sanchez was the 34th-overall pick (first round) of the 2010 draft, Alex Anthopouloss first as general mmanager.dddddddddddd In a perfect world, regardless of Sanchezs role the remainder of the season, he adapts to the big leagues as well as his fellow first rounder, Marcus Stroman (22nd-overall, 2012). He insisted hes not afraid of the big stage. Hes looking forward to pitching in front of major league crowds. Stadia with three decks wont faze him. “I think Montreal was a big testament to that. You know, pitching in front of a crowd like that, just, you being in a big league atmosphere,” said Sanchez. “I think thats what I was expecting when I came back up.” Sanchez went through a period of control problems at Double-A. He was pulled early from a couple of outings when he hit 30 pitches in a single inning, a limit set by the Blue Jays in order to protect the prized asset. His command returned with some minor tweaks to his delivery. “I dont think it was more of an arm slot change, it was just about being more consistent with the arm slot,” said Sanchez. “There were a couple of mechanical things that would be inconsistent with my arm slot, so thats what we did down there is kind of go back to the foundation. The more and more I repeated the delivery thing, everything else kind of fell into place.” Sanchez doesnt plan to minimize his repertoire while pitching in relief, as some starters will do. His parents arrived in Toronto, from the Southern Calfornia town of Barstow, in time to be at Rogers Centre. His dad was the first person he called. “I called my pops, absolutely,” said Sanchez. “Hes been by my side from day one. I wish he could be there, in person, with me to share that moment because over the phone didnt do any justice.” ROGERS, GOINS REJOIN BLUE JAYS Sanchezs promotion wasnt the only move the ballclub made on Tuesday. Pitcher Esmil Rogerss contract was selected and infielder Ryan Goins was recalled from Buffalo. To make room, Brad Mills was designated for assignment and Darin Mastrioanni and Erik Kratz were optioned to Buffalo. ' ' '