DIGGING IT
Mickelson not done after climbing out of early hole
Phil Mickelson didn’t ruin his chances of contending for a second PGA Championship on Thursday. Otherwise, he would prefer to forget his opening-round performance at Baltusrol Golf Club, and hope it was an anomaly.
After a dreadful first 11 holes left him 4-over and on the verge of digging himself a major divide, Mickelson rebounded well to merely finish with a 1-over 71, leaving him six shots off the pace, behind surprising leader and fellow American Jimmy Walker.
“I hit terrible shots the first 11 holes,” said Mickelson, who won the 2005 PGA Championship, the last time it was at Baltusrol. “It’s not the start I wanted. It’s not indicative of how I’m playing. But I’m back to where tomorrow, if I play the way I’ve been playing, I should be OK.
“If I go out tomorrow and just play a good round — I think I can shoot mid-60s and get back in it, and that’s the goal.”
Mickelson, 46, said it wasn’t a British Open hangover — two weeks ago he lost a classic final-round duel to Henrik Stenson despite finishing 17-under for the tournament — but more the result of him resting last weekend, which he doesn’t like to do prior to a major. But because of the condensed schedule, Mickelson felt he had no other option.
Mickelson, who started on the back nine, said he thought the recent inac- tivity showed early on with lack of focus, poor shot-making, and overall shaky play. He was uncharacteristically jumpy, off-kilter, missing fairways right and nearly landing in the water on the par-5 18th.
“I kind of steered a lot of shots. I didn’t swing freely. I was quick from the top,” he said. “My rhythm wasn’t great. All of that is to try to control the results rather than just swinging the way I’ve been swinging and playing the game.”
He found himself on his second nine, birdieing three holes. Mickelson, who played with world No. 1 Jason Day and Rory McIlroy, said he believed his round began to turn on the difficult par-4 third hole, where he followed up a strong drive with an even better 8-iron and long birdie putt.
“That kind of got things going,” he said.
He also credited the crowd. When Mickelson was feeling down on the third hole, one fan yelled to him: “Hey, you’ve got a lot of golf left, you’re not out of this, let’s get going.”
“I came back and made some birdies. Birdied that hole,” Mickelson said. “The support that the people here in New Jersey, New York, metropolitan area have given me over the years, today was the day that it helped the most, I think.”
He hopes to give them more reasons to cheer this weekend.