AUGUSTA, Ga. — The way Phil Mickelson played in yesterday’s opening round of the Masters, he looked like anything but the defending champion or the pre-tournament favorite.

The final result was a 2-under 70, leaving Mickelson five shots out of the lead after one day, but his errant driving of the ball made the score rather miraculous.

Mickelson, who was coming off his win in Houston last week, hit just four of 14 fairways, yet the only bogey he carded was on 18, when he hit his approach shot left of the green and left his chip shot some 10 feet short.

“I scrambled well to stay in it, but I also let four or five birdie opportunities slide,” Mickelson said. “I’m going to have to capitalize on those opportunities [today] if I’m going to go low.”

Asked to assess his 70 on a day when the leaders, Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros, shot 7-under 65s, Mickelson said, “It’s OK, just OK. I didn’t shoot myself out of it, but I didn’t make up ground on field the way I wanted to, so I have to do it [today].”

One thing Mickelson opted not to do was use two drivers. Earlier in the week he planned to do to give himself a lower-lofted driver for more distance. He felt on Nos. 4 and 14 he might need a 3-iron with the wind, so he opted to stick with the one driver.

“I was driving it really well last week, so I didn’t want to over-think it or mess with it, so on the range I decided to go with just one,” he said.

Mickelson, who was followed for much of his round by LPGA star Paula Creamer, looked like he might lose his round when he over-cut his drive on No 13 (his favorite hole) into the azaleas on the left. He punched out and saved par.

From there, he birdied Nos. 14 and 15 and got to 3-under, but the bogey on 18 killed his momentum.