Sports in Brief: Mickelson leads by 2 shots in Charlotte

Phil Mickelson surged into a 2-shot lead at Friday's halfway mark of the Wells Fargo Championship by firing a 5-under-par 67 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. Tied for second at 137 were fellow Americans Nick Watney (70) and George McNeil (68), and Australian Scott Gardiner (67).

The youngest player to compete on the European Tour missed the cut, while Mikko Ilonen of Finland tied the course record with a 9-under 63 for a 3-shot lead at the China Open in Tianjin. Ye Wocheng, 12, missed the cut at 14 over after a pair of 79s. But China's Dou Zecheng, 16, became the youngest to make the tournament cut with a 70-72 for a 2-under total.

Ariya Jutanugarn kept her lead in the LPGA Tour's Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va. The 17-year-old Thai player is a shot ahead of second-ranked Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford.

Mike Goodes shot a 3-under 69 in wind that gusted to 30 m.p.h. to take a 1-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour's Insperity Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

COLLEGES: Men's basketball teams will be allowed to begin their first practice - celebrated at many schools with Midnight Madness events - up to two weeks earlier than in the past, starting this fall. The proposal was finalized at the close of the NCAA board of directors meeting.

Another college football season opener in Ireland could be in the works. After Notre Dame and Navy squared off in Dublin last fall, Penn State and Central Florida are discussing the option of opening the 2014 season against one another in Ireland, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Nittany Lions coach Bill O'Brien and Knights coach George O'Leary are both of Irish heritage. The game would serve as the second half of a previously scheduled home-and-home, with the first meeting taking place this Sept. 14 in State College, Pa.

- Inquirer wire services