Mickelson cards 65, ties for Schwab lead
Langer plays with pain, finishes at 68
PHOENIX — Bernhard Langer squatted to tee up his ball instead of bending at the waist. Lining up putts looked like he was doing calf stretches against a wall, more of a chest-high view than ground level.
By the sixth hole, the 64-yearold gave up on retrieving the ball from the hole altogether, asking caddie Terry Holt to do it for him.
Any other tournament, Langer would have withdrawn. He nearly did anyway, even with a sixth Schwab Cup on the line.
Playing through pain, Langer shot a 3-under 68 in the opening round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Thursday, putting him three behind Phil Mickelson and two others.
“It was the most pain I’ve had playing golf in 30 years,” Langer said. “It was pretty bad. I told Terry I probably shouldn’t even be here right now, but somehow I started praying out there that the pain would subside and I managed to make it through, but it’s not good. Not sure I can do this for four days. Hopefully, I’ll feel better tomorrow.”
Mickelson had seven birdies and a bogey to match Jim Furyk and Kirk Triplett for the lead in the PGA Tour Champions season finale at Phoenix Country Club.
Langer arrived in the desert as the prohibitive favorite to win his sixth Schwab Cup, joining Furyk, Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez as the only players with a chance to win the season championship. Langer’s scenarios for winning his fifth Schwab Cup in seven years ranged from winning the Schwab Cup Championship to 35th, depending on how the other contenders finish.
The German star felt tightness in his back during Wednesday’s pro-am and woke up in pain on Thursday. He was able to loosen it up some during warm-ups, but the pain got bad again while putting before his round.
Despite walking with slight hunch, Langer still managed to make three birdies to offset a bogey on the front nine. He caught a break when his third shot on the par-5 18th hole caught up in the rough before rolling into the water. He then got up-and-down for a par.
Furyk, who can win the Schwab Cup with a victory this weekend, had four birdies in his final five holes and seven overall playing in the final group with Langer. Els had four birdies to shoot 68 and Jimenez couldn’t get much going, finishing with two birdies in a 70.
Mickelson was a big fan favorite in his return to the Valley of Sun, where he starred at Arizona
State. Lefty is a part-time player on the PGA Tour Champions while still playing on the regular tour, winning three of his five starts on the senior circuit.
PGA: In Houston, Marc Leishman, Russell Henley, Talor Gooch and Luke List shared the lead Thursday in the suspended first round of the Houston Open, with List still on the course when darkness stopped play.
Rain delayed the start for 2½ hours, with 0.9 inches falling at Memorial Park. None of the afternoon starters completed play.
Leishman, Henley and Gooch each finished at 5-under 65, while List had three holes left when play was called for the day.
Brooks Koepka was at even par with nine holes left. His younger brother, Chase Koepka, was 3 over through seven holes. He’s playing on a sponsor exemption.
LPGA: In Belleair, Fla., Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire thrived in a star grouping with an 8-under 62 for a two-shot lead over defending champion Sei Young Kim in the Pelican Women’s Championship.
Maguire played alongside Kim and Lexi Thompson. No one in the group made bogey at Pelican Golf Club on a day ideal for scoring. In all, 50 players from the 108-player field broke par.
Maguire is still trying to become Ireland’s first winner on the LPGA Tour.