Mickelson and Woods charge into contention in Boston

NORTON, Massachusetts, Sep 1 (Reuters) Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, matching each other with magical shot-making and seven-under-par 64s, surged into contention at the Deutsche Bank Championship today.

Left-hander Mickelson chipped in for eagle at the par-five 18th on his way to an early tie for third place on an eight-under 134 in the second round at the TPC Boston.

World number one Woods, playing with Mickelson and Vijay Singh this week for the first time in a PGA Tour event, covered his last eight holes in six under to finish three shots off the pace.

Woods, champion last year, rolled in a 33-footer to eagle the par-four fourth before ending a breezy day at six under in the second leg of the inaugural four-event FedExCup playoff series.

American Rich Beem birdied the last four holes for a 66 to hold a share of the lead at nine under with Australia's Aaron Baddeley, who also carded a 66.

Mickelson and fellow American Sean O'Hair (66) were a further stroke adrift, one ahead of overnight leader Camilo Villegas of Colombia (72), Japan's Ryuji Imada (66) and Craig Kanada of the U.S. (68).

''Today was a lot of fun,'' Mickelson told reporters after charging up the leaderboard with five birdies and one eagle.

''This is what we were kind of hoping for yesterday but you can't get it going all the time.

''It was actually a little more challenging today with the cooler air and the breeze but the greens were so perfect you felt you could make lots of putts.

''We just didn't get it going yesterday but I just sensed that everybody was going to come out ready today,'' added the three-times major winner, who opened with a 70.

GETTING BACK ''We all needed a good round to get back into the tournament, and that's what we ended up doing.'' Fijian Singh, the 2004 champion, followed his first-round 74 with a 66 while Woods mounted his charge with six birdies, an eagle and a solitary bogey at the par-four first.

The ''Big Three'', who attracted huge, appreciative galleries for their morning round, were a collective 19 under par for the day.

''Feel-wise, I hit the ball about the same today, I just made a lot more putts,'' Woods said after improving on his opening 72.

''It was nice to get the putter rolling and I caught fire on the back nine when I went six under through six holes on a little stretch.

''The whole idea was for me to get something around three or four under par today. Now I'm back in the tournament.'' Players are competing this week for points in addition to an overall purse of 7 million dollars and a winner's cheque for 1.26 million dollars.

The leading 70 on the FedExCup points list after the tournament ends Monday qualify for next week's BMW Championship outside Chicago.

The top 30 in the standings will then qualify for the Sept.

13-16 Tour Championship in Atlanta where a 10 million dollars bonus in deferred compensation will be earned by the overall points champion.

Reuters BJR VP0110