Parnevik two shots back after eventful round

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) _ Phil Mickelson and Steve Elkington were the co-leaders at the BellSouth Classic. For pure thrills, no one could match Jesper Parnevik. <br><br>Parnevik was two strokes behind Mickelson

Saturday, April 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) _ Phil Mickelson and Steve Elkington were the co-leaders at the BellSouth Classic. For pure thrills, no one could match Jesper Parnevik.

Parnevik was two strokes behind Mickelson and Elkington after Friday's eventful second round, which included a hole-in-one and a 172-yard eagle.

Unfortunately for Parnevik, he also knocked a shot in the water for a double-bogey, costing him a spot with the leaders.

``Jesper wasn't really playing well at all,'' said Retief Goosen, who was in the Swede's group. ``But he holed a couple of irons shots and a few long putts. It's a funny game.''

Elkington and Mickelson had more conventional rounds and shared the lead at 11-under-par 133. Elkington, on top after Thursday, shot a 69; Mickelson pulled even with a 68.

Goosen and Padraig Harrington were one stroke back, while Parnevik was tied with Phil Tataurangi at 9-under 135.

Parnevik, dressed in a lime green sweater for his chilly morning round, holed out a 6-iron from 172 yards on the first hole.

``It got a lot warmer,'' he said, smiling.

Parnevik reached 12 under with his hole-in-one at No. 8, a 5-iron from 217 yards. That shot, he quipped, wasn't as memorable as the hole-in-one he made in a 1995 tournament in China.

``Heineken was sponsoring the tournament and gave me free beer for a year,'' Parnevik said. ``Today, I didn't even get a car.''

He gave back two shots by splashing a 7-iron into the water at 12, leading to a double-bogey. Another bogey at 17 left him with a 69.

Elkington found himself in position for his first PGA Tour victory since 1999. He was slowed by injuries the past two seasons.

``I have plenty of time,'' the 39-year-old Elkington said. ``I feel fit now, and I feel I have a lot of good golf in me.''

Starting on the back side, Elkington birdied three of his first four holes. He blasted out of the sand for a short putt at 10, the longest hole on the course at 608 yards. He sank a 20-foot putt at 12, followed by a 15-footer at the 13th.

Elkington had just one birdie and one bogey the rest of the way, settling into a par groove.

``My round was pretty plain all the way around,'' he said, though it did include ``my best shot of the year'' _ a flop shot over a bunker to 5 feet for birdie at No. 6.

Mickelson played the first 32 holes of the tournament without a bogey. He got to 12 under, then three-putted back-to-back greens before finishing with a 68.

``I played well,'' Mickelson said. ``The golf course is playing a little bit harder because the greens are getting just a little slicker. But it's a very fair test. I'm not disappointed with 4 under.''

Mickelson, the winner in 2000, sank a 25-foot birdie to get his round started. He also drove the green on the 310-yard 13th _ the shortest par-4 on the course _ and two-putted from 35 feet.

At 15, he muscled a wedge 15 feet over the hole, pushed the putt 8 feet past and missed that to take his first bogey.

He quickly got his second. At 16, Mickelson needed three putts to get down from 30 feet.

But the left-hander rebounded for a birdie on the par-5 18th, spinning a shot from the back bunker to 10 feet. Overall, he has no complaints about his short game.

``You really can't shoot 11-under par without making a lot of putts,'' he said. ``I have made a ton of putts this week, a lot of 6- to 8-footers.''

Like Parnevik, Goosen also had two eagles. The U.S. Open champion picked up his first at the par-5 sixth, then holed a lob wedge from 50 feet at the short 13th.

``It's actually quite funny,'' Goosen said. ``I'm not playing well at all. I am not hitting the ball good off the tee or into the green, but I have made my fair share of putts in these last two rounds. I am really scrambling around the course.''