Johnson's eagle, putt change his fortune

BETHESDA, Md. -- If Zach Johnson does get into contention this weekend, he can thank one excellent shot and a lucky break. He eagled the par-5 sixth hole, and realized how close he had come to being irrelevant.

It was the 240-yard 3-wood he hit for his second shot. "I had the perfect club, I was trying to hit it left of the hole. It did cut, and I caught it just a smidge heavy and it landed on the front of the green," the 2007 Masters champion said. "It was two yards from being in the water. And then I hit a putt that would have been minimum eight feet by if it didn't hit the back of the hole.

"Fortunately, it went in."

So he ended the second round at 2 under, in a tie for third, with an excellent chance of having his best Open. In seven tries, he has missed the cut four times and tied for 45th, 48th and 77th.

Mickelson watch

Phil Mickelson shot 2-under-par 69 to reach the midway point at 1 over. He was somewhat bewildered over his double-bogey on 18. "Even though I was able to shoot under par today, I was still struggling with it," he said. "I think I'm going to try to figure out what it is I need to work on first and then get back to the range."

LI's Turnesa misses cut

Although the second round was not completed and the cut line was not made official, Marc Turnesa of Rockville Centre (7 over) missed it. Former U.S. Open champs joining him: Ernie Els (6 over), Jim Furyk (7 over) and Geoff Ogilvy (9 over).

Irwin has winning attitude

Steven Irwin, son of three-time Open champion Hale Irwin, is headed home after finishing 13 over. When he was asked how he can regroup, he said, "I'm going to go home, sit down, kick my feet up and remind myself that I'm a 36-year-old amateur and try to go out tomorrow and have a good time. That's about it."