Coming off his victory in the BellSouth Classic at TPC Sugarloaf last week, Mickelson is tied for second place with Vijay Singh and Ernie Els after two rounds at the Masters Tournament. He shot a 4-under-par 68 Friday, including 33 on the back nine.

``The shots that were required at Sugarloaf last week are very similar to the ones required this week,'' said the 29-year-old Mickelson, who is playing in his eighth Masters. He finished tied for sixth last year.

``The greens are very similar, and I feel very comfortable on the golf course because not only have I seen this course this week, but I played something similar to it last week.''

For the second straight round Mickelson played well on the par-5s, which he said coming in would be the key to the tournament.

Including his birdies at Nos. 2, 13 and 15, and a par at No. 8 Friday, Mickelson came in 6-under on the par-5s overall.

``You've got to attack the par-5s, and (each day) I played them three under,'' Mickelson said. ``The only difference was I played the other holes better today.''

The key to Mickelson's round might have been his unexpected birdie at the par-4 11th, which ranks as the most difficult hole on the course after two rounds. There have been only 12 birdies on No. 11, with 54 bogeys, 16 double bogeys and one triple bogey.

Mickelson went on a roll from there, with consecutive birdies at Nos. 13-15 to go to 6-under before bogeying the par-3 16th hole to fall back to 5-under.

``I was very patient throughout the round and didn't make too many mistakes,'' said Mickelson, who tees off in today's third round at 1:50 p.m., paired with Els in the next-to-last group. ``I ended up having a nice stretch on the back nine, where I made some birdies. It probably could have been better, and it probably could have been worse.''

Along with the similarities between Sugarloaf and the Augusta National Golf Club, Mickelson said competing the week before the Masters has helped his focus.

``For me, personally, playing the week before the majors is probably the way to go,'' said Mickelson, who has two PGA Tour victories this season. ``A lot of people take the week before off and prepare elsewhere, and I find when I do that, I come to Thursday and have not been in a very good competitive frame of mind. By playing Sugarloaf last week and last year, it enables me to tee it up on Thursday in a better, more focused frame of mind.''