PGA scraps rainy morning rounds as Spieth ties for lead at Riviera
One of the wildest pars Phil Mickelson ever made didn’t even count. Jordan Spieth made sure to make the most of his return from a weather delay.
Fifty minutes into the start of the Genesis Open in Los Angeles, with only 30 players having teed off, the opening round was scrapped because of increasing rain that soaked Riviera Country Club 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 rocketed to the top of the leader board. 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.
Spieth was playing alongside Mickelson, who hit his first tee shot on No. 10 into a bunker, a bad spot in any weather. Mickelson apparently could see, 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 headed for the back bunker again; 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 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 par. “Same score,” Mickelson said. “Whatever.”
Tiger Woods never made it to the course.
Club pro cards 17
Ben DeArmond had a debut to remember on the Web.com Tour because of one hole he will never forget — a score of 17 on the par-4 second hole in the Lecom Suncoast Classic.
DeArmond, the head pro at the TPC at Treviso Bay in Naples, drove into the water on the 491-yard second hole, and that’s where his troubles began. He twice tried to clear the water from the rough and failed. He went back to the tee and hit into the water a fourth time, and then found the water twice more from the rough before he finally reached the fairway. DeArmond wound up with a 91.
Amateur status preserved
Teen prodigy Lucy Li gets to keep her amateur status after the USGA gave her a warning for appearing in an Apple Watch advertisement. That clears the way for the 16-year-old Li to play in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur the first week in April.