Mickelson starts strong, in hunt at Pebble Beach
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson has been coming to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am since 1995 and has won it four times, so there isn’t much he hasn’t accomplished along the Monterey Peninsula. Thursday delivered something new.
Mickelson didn’t miss a fairway.
“History was made today,” Mickelson said after his 6-under-par 65 at Monterey Peninsula, leaving him one shot behind Brian Gay and Scott Langley. “To the best of my knowledge, it’s taken me 27 years and a few months to hit all fairways in a single round in competition.”
His accuracy was better than his memory.
According to the PGA Tour, Mickelson has done it seven times, most recently 21 years ago at Torrey Pines.
On Thursday, over three rain-softened tracks — the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula, Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach — 59 players in the 156-man field shot in the 60s.
And there was no shortage of entertainment.
Brandt Snedeker probably wasn’t thinking birdie when his tee shot on the par-5 18th at Pebble Beach missed left and bounced down to the sandy shore. He played it off the beach back to the fairway, hit 7-iron to 10 feet and made the putt for a 69.
Bill Murray kept everyone laughing even after his round, when a volunteer asked him to sign his cap. Murray noticed Pat Perez already had signed it, looked at the scribbling on the bill of the cap and said, “He misspelled his name.”
And there was plenty of good golf along the way.
Gay finished his front nine at Monterey Peninsula with five straight birdies. Langley made seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch in the middle of his round at Monterey Peninsula. He finished with a birdie that allowed him to tie Gay for the first-round lead.
Cody Gribble had a 6-under 66 at Spyglass Hill, and Si Woo Kim had a 6-under 66 at Pebble Beach. The four scores at 6 under were at Monterey Peninsula, including Jason Day.
At Barwon Heads, Australia, Felicity Johnson of England shot an 8-under 65 at the ISPS Handa Vic Open to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round at the 13th Beach Golf Links, where men and women played in alternate groups in a unique tournament also sanctioned by the men’s European Tour. Su Oh of Australia, who had a hole-in-one, was in a three-way tie for second.
LPGA: