MIAMI — This has all the trappings of an encore.

For two days in the Ford Championship at Doral, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have been blasting drives and making birdies on the Blue Monster, never too far away from each other on the leaderboard, but nowhere near each other on the golf course. They had the same tee time, but started on opposite nines.

But when they posted their scores at 13-under 131 — Woods with a 5-under 67, Mickelson with a bogey-free 66 — they were atop the leaderboard Friday and assured of playing with each other Saturday as long as no one topped them.

Scott Verplank and Camilo Villegas could only match them.

Woods and Mickelson will be in the final pairing for the third round, a treat for the fans. The tournament sold out last year when they played in the final group, and two of golf's biggest stars delivered a dynamic show. Woods rallied from two shots down, and won with a 30-foot birdie on the 17th and a 6-foot par on the final hole.

Now they get to do it again, although the landscape is far different.

"We've got a long way to go," Woods said. "You've got to continue making birdies and see what happens."

Everyone else made birdies on a balmy Friday afternoon, which nearly upset the dream pairing. First came Verplank, navigating his way around the Blue Monster for a 65. He had a chip from behind the 18th green for birdie that would have given him the outright lead, and narrowly missed.

Then it was Villegas in his pink pants, a big-hitting rookie from Colombia who grazed the edge of the cup with his eagle putt on the par-5 eighth, and holed an 18-foot birdie on the ninth for a 66.

Mickelson loves this kind of stuff, but he was quick to caution fans about putting so much stock in one group.

After all, it was a four-way tie for the lead. There were nine players within three shots of the lead. And it was only Saturday.

"There are guys that are right there that are going to go out and make a lot of birdies, and it will be easy for them. They will have no pressure on them," Mickelson said. "It won't be ... anything like Sunday last year, where we're watching what each other is doing and trying to beat each other."

Not everyone cares about Woods and Mickelson in the final pairing, least of all Verplank. He was approached by an enthusiastic television reporter after his round, who mentioned that Verplank had crashed the party.

"Why do you say that?" Verplank said, knowing full well what he meant.

"I lost in a playoff a couple of years ago," Verplank said, toying with the reporter. "I know my way around this course pretty good. I beg to differ. We'll see what happens."

It should be quite a show, with a large cast of characters.

Two former PGA champions — Davis Toms (66) and Rich Beem (67) — were one shot behind, along with Mark Wilson (67). The group at 10-under 134 included Dean Wilson, Lucas Glover and Chad Campbell, who continues to strike his irons with authority and chipped in from 40 yards on the 17th.

Even so, the spotlight will shine on two of the biggest names in golf, especially after last year. Woods and Mickelson have played three times together in the final group, with Woods winning all three.

So when Woods says he enjoys such situations, Mickelson understands.

"His record is a little better than mine," Mickelson said. "Of course he enjoys it."

Both started slowly in the pristine conditions of morning in Miami, with warm weather and barely a trace of a breeze. Woods reached the par-5 10th in two for a two-putt birdie, then wasted good birdie chances until a pitch from the rough short of the 16th green that stopped 6 feet away.

He birdied the 18th from the fringe, had an easy time for birdie with the par-5 first hole, then hit another exquisite chip from the rough on the short second hole that skipped to a stop 2 feet from the cup.

Woods was on his way to a comfortable margin until making his only bogey of the tournament, from the bunker left of the fourth green. He got the shot back with a wedge into 4 feet on the fifth, then made all pars.

Lefty also sputtered around with pars, then hit a 4-wood that he cut from left to right, holding it nicely as it plunked down 8 feet from the cup for eagle at the par-5 eighth. He finished strong with a pitch to 8 feet on the 16th and a wedge to 3 feet on the 17th, converting both for birdies.

Verplank plays a different game. He has moderate length, but usually plays from the short grass. He makes his living off his iron play and putting. There's a reason his peers call him "Kerplunk," the sound of a ball dropping into the cup.

He birdied all the par 5s, three of them with a wedge in his hand. He hit an artful 6-iron that held against the afternoon breeze into 12 feet on the 15th for birdie. Laying back in the 17th fairway — he was 55 yards behind rookie J.B. Holmes — Verplank hit a three-quarter shot with an 8-iron in 4 feet for birdie.

"The way golf has changed, my game still works," Verplank said. "There's just barely enough skill left in the game where I can still play."

And he was eager to see where that would leave him at Doral.