Rain wins the day at Genesis Open
One of the wildest pars
Phil Mickelson ever made did not even count. Neither did one of the worst lies
Jordan Spieth ever had. Fifty minutes into the start of the Genesis Open at Los Angeles, with only 30 players having teed off, the opening round was scrapped because of increasing rain that soaked Riviera and poor visibility that made it unusually tough on the earliest of starters.
Everyone started over after what amounted to a seven-hour delay, and Spieth made the most of his second chance.
He chipped in twice for birdie, made birdie on all three par 5s and was at 5-under par through 12 holes. He was tied for the lead with Sung Kang, who was through 14 holes.
Tiger Woods never made it to the course.
Spieth hit his tee shot on the short par-4 10th to the left, normally a good place to be except that his ball hit the cart path, hit it again, bounded across the forward tee at No. 11 and disappeared into shin-high grass so deep he could barely see his ball.
If he could have played from there, par would have been a challenge. And then the horn blew to suspend play because of wet conditions, and a few hours later, the PGA Tour thought it was best to scrap the round.
Spieth was playing alongside Mickelson, who hit his first tee shot on No. 10 into a bunker. Mickelson apparently could see just fine, so while Spieth and Xander Schauffele marked their balls, Mickelson chose to finish the hole.
He went over the green into a back bunker, the ball slightly plugged in wet sand. Unable to control the spin, he blasted out to the green and watched it roll into a front bunker. With his fourth shot, the ball appeared to be going fast enough to return to the back bunker, instead the hole got in the way. It disappeared for a par, and Mickelson walked back to his caddie with a smile and said, “How about we go in now?”
When he returned, Mickelson hit a beautiful flop shot from long and left of the green to 18 feet, and his birdie attempt turned away at the cup. He tapped in for another par, this one far less entertaining.
“Same score,” Mickelson said as he walked off the green. “Whatever.”