Mickelson shrugs off Super League links to roll back the years with a 65
It sounds a far from convincing statement, but those Super Golf League disrupters from Saudi Arabia could just have as much as sense as money.
While eyebrows disappeared under visors when it was revealed this week that Phil Mickelson could be paid as much as $100million (£72million) per year to appear in the proposed breakaway circuit, the 50-year-old showed he can still mix it with the game’s best when shooting an extraordinary first-round 65 that handed the Senior Tour member a two-shot advantage in the Wells Fargo Championship.
This was Mickelson at his best, and in this sort of form any golf fan would pay to watch him, regardless of the stage. On Wednesday the five-time major winner had stretched credibility by claiming the rebels who did join the SGL would not be “money-grabbers” – as Rory Mcilroy called them – but, in fact, would be “selfless’ because they would be tying themselves into a schedule the supporters would be thrilled to see.
In truth, Mickelson is more suited to making mouths drop as he rolls back the years while rolling in the putts, as he did at Quail Hollow yesterday. The American, who competes with the over-50 brigade such as Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer, is ranked 115th in the world and without a top-20 finish on the Tour proper in nine months. What was the difference here after his missed cut in Tampa last week?
“Just focus,” Mickelson said. “This course holds my attention. I’ve been doing some like, you know, mental exercises and so forth just to try to get my concentration to elongate over five hours. That’s been a real struggle for me because physically there’s nothing holding me back from playing at a high level.”
Mickelson’s nearest pursuers are fellow American Keegan Bradley and Korean Kyoung-hoon Lee, with England’s Tommy Fleetwood on
four-under. Mcilroy, in his first event since his missed cut at the Masters, could only manage a oneover 73 and now faces another fight to make the weekend. He is two back from Rickie Fowler, another whose targeting by the Saudis caused surprise.
Bogeys on the world No111’s final two holes hardly strengthened any conviction that he might be worth a $30million (£21.5million) signing-on fee, yet in the midst of the most humbling slump of Fowler’s career so far, this one-under 71 was, in fact, a step forward for the 32-year-old. And afterwards he credited time spent viewing last month’s Masters alongside Tiger Woods as inspiration.
Fowler, without a top 10 in his past 27 events, failed to qualify for the Augusta major for the first time in 11 years and instead went over to his neighbour’s to watch the first round. “It was fun to be able to do that with Tiger,” he said.
“We were both in the same position…. well, I guess not the same. Mine from not playing well and him being laid up [after breaking his right leg in a car accident]. But we were definitely both very disappointed we couldn’t experience it.
“Tiger’s golf clubs are right there in the living room and he can stare at them all he wants. He’s not lacking any fire in there right now. Tiger never has.”
Fowler has attracted criticism for expressing his interest in the SGL, despite Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s warning on Tuesday that the rebels face a lifetime ban. “It’s definitely interesting,” he said. “I think there’s a lot that needs to happen for it to even move forward of any sort, but at the same time I think competition can be a good thing.”
Fowler believes it could come to pass. “It would definitely need at least a handful of guys to be going in that direction, or to commit or something,” he said. “But I don’t know of anything like that right now. So we’ll see. I think all of us will come out in a better place after all this is done.”