Mickelson in contention for third straight Champions win

TUCSON, A RIZ .» Phil Mickelson waded into the mud after his tee shot on Tucson National’s 15th hole trickled into a pond. He adjusted his feet for balance and punched a 9-iron down the fairway, earning applause from playing partner Fred Couples.

Another 9-iron on the par 5 to 4 feet and, after wiping off his shoes, an improbable birdie. A bit of Mickelson magic has Lefty in the hunt to make history.

Mickelson’s mud birdie highlighted a 3under 70 at the Cologuard Classic on Friday, putting him in contention for a third straight victory to open his PGA Tour Champions career.

“I was so heated, I was going to get in there and play it no matter what — how high that mud came up, it didn’t matter,” Mickelson said. “It wasn’t a hard shot, the ball was sitting fine, so I was going to get in there.”

Mickelson was four shots behind Mike Weir, who had a bogey-free 66 in windy conditions at Tucson National. Scott Verplank holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie on the par-4 ninth to close out a 65.

Mickelson is bidding to become the first player to win his first three starts on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour.

Lefty had a relatively stress-free front nine, shooting 3 under on one of the courses where he became the last amateur to win on the PGA Tour 30 years earlier. He hit his second shot on the par-5 eighth hole onto the side of the adjacent No. 3 tee, where Jeff Sluman was walking past after teeing off.

“I hit it way over here just to say hi,” Mickelson said, drawing a laugh from Sluman.

Facing a difficult downhill lie in the dormant Bermuda, Mickelson hit the ball to about 6 feet and made the putt for birdie.

The five-time major champion began having trouble on the back nine, starting with a three-putt bogey on the par-4 11th. Mickelson took double bogey after hitting out-of-bounds on the par-4 13th and appeared to be in trouble when his tee shot on No. 15 rolled into a pond.

“I’m going to have to have Callaway send me another pair of those shoes because these were new, but they’re not any good anymore,” he said.

Mickelson followed with another birdie on the par-5 17th, carving a 3-iron to the front bunker and nearly holing it. He closed with a par on the difficult par-4 18th to shoot even-par 37 on the back nine.