Mickelson resurrects opening round with late surge

PHIL Mickelson has always been inspired by the Masters and the three-time champion relied on his expert knowledge of Augusta National to salvage an erratic first 10 holes in Thursday’s opening round.

The American left-hander had been four over for the day after a wayward drive at the par- four 10th led to a triple-bogey but he recorded three birdies and a lone bogey over the closing stretch to card a two-over-par 74.

Mickelson has finished in the top 10 11 times in his last 13 starts at Augusta National and was confident he could work his way into contention for a fourth green jacket over the weekend.

“With a hot round tomorrow, I’ll get right back in it for the weekend,” the 41- year- old American told reporters after signing off with a birdie at the tricky par-four last.

“I know that heading in I’ve been playing well. So I’m going to fire at it tomorrow and see if I can do that.

“That birdie on 18 was a big momentum birdie for me because if I can get out here and birdie one, two or three, I’m right back at even par. Then I start trying to catch the leaders.”

Mickelson, who upstaged playing partner Tiger Woods as he charged to a two-shot victory at last month’s Pebble Beach national Pro-am, was frustrated by some of his course management over the front nine.

“I hit three or four shots in spots where I know I can’t miss it, and strategically I made some mistakes,” he said. “I made some execution mistakes and then I made a very poor swing on 10.

“I knew walking off 10 green at four over I wasn’t going to get them all back before the round was through. But if I could just get a couple back, I felt like I could get some back on the falling day.

“I got two of them back coming in, so as poorly as I played and some of the poor shots I hit and the mishaps, missing in the wrong spot, I’m right there.”

Rain- softened conditions at Augusta National made the notoriously difficult greens more receptive but tough pin positions and the likelihood of golf balls picking up mud on the fairways gave the players a lot of trouble.

“We had mud on every shot and that was a huge factor,” said four- time Major champion Mickelson.

“That made it challenging plus the wet conditions made some lies in the fairway extremely tight and difficult for me. So it wasn’t as though it was a free for all. You still had to be careful a lot of shots.”

Mickelson will go into yesterday’s second round seven shots behind pace setting Briton Lee Westwood. — Reuters