Taylor hangs onto lead as Day and Mickelson threaten on day two.

Nick Taylor held onto the lead for a second day at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, recovering from a charge by Chris Baker and outlasting challenges by Jason Day and Phil Mickelson.

The Canadian fashioned a 6-under round of 66 to go 14-under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Day and three in advance of five-time and defending champion Mickelson. But Taylor had to survive a strong showing by Baker, who held the lead for part of the day.

For the second day in a row, much of the action at the top of the leaderboard took place away from celebrities and crowds. On Thursday Taylor scorched Monterey Peninsula Country Club while the stars played Spyglass Hill. Friday Taylor, Day and Baker took their turn at Pebble Beach. Meanwhile, the celebs--and Mickelson--teed off at the MPCC shore course.

Mickelson jumped 16 places with an eventful round. He started with four consecutive birdies, faltered on 9 and 15, a bogey on each, but recovered with an eagle on the par-5 16. But the round of the day belonged to Day.

While the Australian always seems to play well on the Peninsula, and carded four early birdies, it was his play on 14 and a putt on 18 that sealed second place. The 14th began with a mistake, a drive that bounded off the fairway.

“I was trying to go further right,” he says.

His next shot left him in a precarious position. Needing to chip over a bunker with a menacing lip, Day lofted the ball onto the green. It rolled in for an eagle, which he celebrated even as his disbelieving caddie tried to hand him his putter.

Afterward Day admitted he had not taken distance into account. “It was more of a feel shot,” he observes.

Day suffered through injuries that stunted his 2019 season and caused him to consider quitting the game. But on Friday he looked to be in fine form. After a disappointing par on 17, he faced a 23-foot birdie putt to finish out--downhill, with a tricky break to the left. The ball rolled in easily.

“Out here with all the foot traffic, you can get a few lucky and unlucky bounces,” Days says. “You just have to pick your speed, pick your line. Control what you can control.”

Baker had an up and down day. He carded an eagle and two early birdies, and closed strong with five birdies over the final six holes at Pebble Beach Golf Links. But a bogy on the par-4 no. 9 proved costly in the long run.

He enters Saturdays round in a fourth place tie with South African Charl Schwartzel at 10-under. Scott Piercy and Dustin Johnson are lurking at 9-under.

In amateur standings, the team of Baker and Monterey County’s Mary Meeker, Mickelson and former 49ers quarterback Steve Young, and Kevin Streelman with Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (a former amateur winner) are knotted at the top.