Phil Mickelson watches his shot out of the woods on the 14th hole during the second round of the Northern Trust golf tournament at TPC Boston on Friday. Mickelson missed the cut despite a 3-under 68. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

NORTON, Mass. — Phil Mickelson always planned to be competing in the Midwest next week, just not in Missouri.

And not as a rookie on the PGA Tour Champions.

Mickelson faced elimination from the FedEx Cup postseason on Friday when he missed the cut at The Northern Trust. He started at No. 67 in the FedEx Cup, and he was all but assured of being outside the top 70 who advance to the BMW Championship next week south of Chicago.

Instead, Mickelson said he would make his debut on the 50-and-older circuit – Mickelson turned 50 in June – at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National. The 54-hole event starts Monday.

“I feel like I’ve been playing well at home,” Mickelson said after his 3-under 68 on Friday. “I was excited to play. I want to play. That’ll give me a chance to play three competitive rounds.”

Mickelson was the only player to reach the BMW Championship – the penultimate playoff event – every year since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. This was his lowest starting position, and he didn’t help the cause by opening with a 74 on TPC Boston on Thursday.

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“I don’t know what to say about the season,” he said. “It’s been very up and down, a lot of missed cuts that is unusual for me. I haven’t won. I’m disappointed I’m not in the BMW. I feel like I’m playing well and yesterday was really a poor start to the tournament. I would have liked to have continued in the playoffs.”

But he’ll be playing enough going into the U.S. Open on Sept. 17-20, where he returns to Winged Foot and the scene of one of his biggest disappointments.

Mickelson had a one-shot lead on the 18th hole in the 2006 U.S. Open, only to try a 3-iron out of the left rough. It hit a tree and came back toward him. He put his next shot into the bunker and made double bogey to finish one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy. The U.S. Open remains the only major he hasn’t won.

Mickelson said he would visit Winged Foot in the next few weeks. He also said he would play the Safeway Open at Silverado Golf Resort in Napa, California, the week before the U.S. Open.

“Having two majors coming up with Winged Foot and the Masters (in November), it keeps the motivation high,” he said.

• Shane Bertsch eagled the first hole of a four-man playoff to win the Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri.

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Bertsch, in his second start on the 50-and-over tour, hit an approach from the rough near the back edge of a bunker that took some big bounces in front of the green and rolled to 20 feet from the back pin on Buffalo Ridge’s par-5 first hole.

Kenny Perry lost a one-stroke lead on the par-5 18th, making a bogey after driving left into deep rough under trees to fall into the playoff with Bertsch, Bernhard Langer and Glen Day.

WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN: As if Royal Troon isn’t playing hard enough for the world’s top female golfers this week, Dani Holmqvist is going around the wind-swept Scottish links carrying a nagging back injury from a cart crash in 2018.

It’s not stopping the Swede leading the Women’s British Open after two rounds.

On another tough day when first-round leader Amy Olson shot 81 – 14 strokes worse than Thursday – and stars like Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson and defending champion Hinako Shibuno missed the cut, Holmqvist shot 1-under 70 in windy morning conditions to be the only player under par after 36 holes.

A 1-under total of 141 left Holmqvist a stroke ahead of Austin Ernst of the United States (70) and Sophia Popov of Germany (72). The rest of the 144-strong field were over par for a tournament being played without spectators and in an isolated environment on Scotland’s southwest coast because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Holmqvist’s form has come out of nowhere, with the 32-year-old Swede having missed the cut in 13 of the 20 events she has played since the golf cart in which she was riding between holes in the Blue Bay event on the LPGA Tour in November 2018 lost control and slammed into a wall.

As well as suffering from a leaking disk in her back, Holmqvist had a badly inflamed facet joint that has required multiple injections and regular rehab. The suspension of golf because of the pandemic gave her some much-needed time to heal but she still described herself as “injured” on Friday.

“It’s a long process and very tedious,” she said. “It’s an everyday thing.”

EUROPEAN TOUR: Scottish golfer Connor Syme moved into a strong position to make up for last week’s near miss at Celtic Manor by taking a two-shot lead after the second round of the Wales Open, played at the same venue.

Syme battled wind and rain to shoot 1-under 70 while Jordan Smith, who shared the first-round lead, only managed 72.

Smith was in a tie for second place with five other players: Li Haotong (66), Liam Johnston (68), Nacho Elvira (67), Sihwan Kim (67) and Sebastian Soderberg (70).

Syme, who is at 6 under overall, held a one-shot lead after 54 holes of the Celtic Classic last weekend but had to settle for a share of third place – behind winner Sam Horsfield – following a final round of 71.

Horsfield is bidding for back-to-back wins at Celtic Manor, and a third victory in the space of four weeks. He has made the cut at the Wales Open, but is eight shots back after a second-round 71.

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