By BRETT CYRGALIS
Phil Mickelson went off the tenth hole a little after 11 a.m. today for the start of his first round in the 109th US Open. He was playing with two, two-time US Open champions in Reteif Goosen and Ernie Els, also both South African.
Lefty went out very steadily, making biridies at Nos. 11 and 17 – the latter eliciting cheers that dusted off memories from 2002 – but gave one back when he hit his tee shot in the right-hand trees on No. 13 and lost his ball.
Making the turn at 1-under, Phil then biridied Nos. 2 and 4, just missing another easy one at No. 3. He looked great, but then his putter halted his momentum as he made two bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7 as a result from two missed putts from three feet.
He then parred in and finished the day at 1-under 69. A solid round in the US Open, but one that left a lot of shots out there, without question. Here’s a look at every shot he hit today, in reverse-chronological order.
No. 9: Phil hit a 3-wood from the forward tees (419 yards) over the cross bunker to the middle of the fairway. From that perfect spot, he hit a short-iron with a little draw that hit past the hole and spun all the way back to about eight feet below the hole. He missed it, this time on the high side (right), and tapped in for a par. Finishes his round 1-under, 69.
No. 8: Phil steadied the ship here with a solid mid-iron over the flagstick to about 15 feet. He gave the putt a run down the hill, just missing on the low side (left), and tapped in for a par to stop the bleeding. 1-under through 17.
No. 7: The tees were moved up to make the par-4 play 489 yards. Phil hit a hard 3-wood that went over the waste area and into the trees to the right of the fairway. From there, he hit a 30-yard low hook with a fairway wood – really, the kind of shot that only Phil would try to hit – that ran up just short of the front-right bunker. He then hit a chip-and-run onto the green, four feet short of the pin. Standing over the putt, there was just feeling that he wasn’t going to make it, and he didn’t, continuing his streak of missed putts within five feet. Bogey, his confidence wavering. 1-under through 16.
No. 6: Phil faded a hybrid over the left bunker which cut the corner, but he just didn’t make it to the fairway. He then hit a short-iron over the green, into an area where the players walk off the green and the rough is matted down. He caught a decent lie and opened up the face of his lob wedge, slid it under the ball and popped it up to three feet. Then, for the second time in the round, he missed a very easy putt, this one costing him a shot to par and slowing his momentum. 2-under through 15.
No. 5: Phil hit a perfect drive over the waste area to the right side of the fairway – the best angle toward the green tucked behind the trees up the hill to the left. He ended up making a very good par. 3-under through 14.
No. 4: Phil hit a spectacular drive, leaving just 212 up the hill to the center of the green. He pulled and fatted his long iron to the fairway/chipping area short and right, not a bad place to leave it. Then he kind of chunked his chip a bit and it checked five feet short of the hole. But he jarred the putt, a gentle left-to-right breaker, and made a solid – if not necessary – birdie. 3-under through 13.
No. 3: Phil smoked a 6-iron, moving it softly from left-to-right to the back-left pin. It spun and stopped four feet left. A really great shot. Then Phil took the air out of the gallery as he tried to slam the putt into the back of the hole and it broke away to his left, not even catching a piece as it ran by. He made the come-backer, thank goodness. The miss still seemed to end what was a rolling boiling of excitement. 2-under through 12.
No. 2: Phil cut a fairway wood into the short rough left of the fairway. He then went down at a short-iron hard, coming up with one hand on the club, and the ball traveled up the hill to the green and stopped quickly about five feet away. He made the putt, pumped his fist and got a big cheer. A birdie he needed to make, and one that the crowd really got behind. 2-under through 11.
No. 1: Phil split the fairway with a fairway wood, leaving himself a short-iron into the back-right pin. He hit a mediocre second shot, leaving it in the middle of the green, from where he two-putted up a subtle ridge for a ho-hum par. I’d normally say that he’d take ’em all week – which will be true Tomorrow, Sunday and any day forward – but with the course playing as soft and receptive as it is now, he needs to take it low just to keep up. 1-under through ten.
No. 18: Phil took a long-iron off the tee and over-cut it into the fairway bunker on the left side. It could have been a disastrous mistake, but he caught a decent lie on the upslope and hit his second into the the fat part of the green. From there he easily two-putted and made the turn at 1-under.
No. 17: After some discussion with his caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay, Phil went to a 5-iron from just under 200 yards. He put it on the front part of the green, about 30 feet short of the back-right pin. From there, he nailed the long, left-to-right putt – the ball still carrying some speed when it hit the hole – and a huge cheer, reminiscent of ’02, went up from the crowd. Boy, if that’s the reaction he gets to making a biridie on his eighth hole of the tournament, can you imagine what it’ll be like if he’s there on Sunday? 1-under through eight.
No. 16: Phil cut a very big drive that ended up in the light rough left of the fairway. The big tree on the left wasn’t blocking his view, and he slashed a nine-iron up on the left portion of the green, leaving about a 40-footer for biridie. He rolled one up close and tapped in for an easy par. Even through seven.
No. 15: Phil hit his drive up the right side of the fairway (no roll, but no mud – an ongoing tally of who’s getting mud balls and who isn’t) and then aimed his second left of the putting surface, up the hill. He hit a big hook that landed on the left side of the green and caromed down towards the back-right hole location. The downhill putt broke hard to his left, and he just played too much break and missed it high, tapping in for a very good par. Even.
No. 14: Phil hit it past the hole and spun it back to about 15 feet. He started his putt out on the left side, but it didn’t break as much as he thought and he missed it, tapping in for par. Even.
No. 13: Phil hit his tee shot on the par-5 13th way right into the trees. He hit a provisional tee shot in the fairway, which he then needed to play when he couldn’t find his first ball (sound familiar to anyone?) There was mud on his ball in fairway, so he took a fairway wood and hit one over the bunker, now lying four in the fairway under 100 yards. He spun a wedge back to four feet and made the putt, a good bogey on what should be a biridie hole. Even Par.
No. 12: Phil bombed a drive over the cross bunker on No. 12 to the middle of the fairway. From there, he hit a four-iron from 232 to just about 15 feet below the hole and to the left. He just left the putt short for a tap-in par, great for that grueling hole. He’s at 1-under par through three holes.
No. 11: Phil hit a drive down the center and hit his approach to about three feet (a very accessible pin position, 17 paces on and nine to the left – pretty much left-center). He drained the putt to get to 1-under.
No. 10: Phil drove the ball in the right rough, played one up the fairway, hit a chip onto the green and drained a six-footer for par. That’s how you make pars in this tournament, and if Lefty makes 17 more like that, he’ll be worn out but I’m sure he’ll take it. Even.
