The last time we saw Phil Mickelson he plucked Tiger Woods like a Turkey and walked away with $9 million the day after Thanksgiving.
It has been a long vacation break for Phil, who showed up at the Desert Classic this week with low expectations.
So much for those as Lefty gave ’em something to talk about on day one at an otherwise boring event.
All Mickelson did was go out and make a run at 59. He’s done it before and came up a lipped-out putt short. He’d come up a shot short again on Thursday at the LaQuinta course.
Four birdies and an eagle on the front got Lefty out in 30 and the watch was on. By the time he got to the 15th tee, he needed to finish with three straight birdies to get his 59.
“I really didn’t think that this was going to be a day that I was going to go low,” Mickelson said. “I came in with very low expectations, I haven’t had a lot of time to practice and prepare and I felt like all areas were okay, but you never really know until you get out and you play and compete. And I hit a shot here or there and ended up making a putt and all of a sudden I was quite a few under par. The good thing was I made a couple bad swings and I got away with them. This golf course, there’s out of bounds close by, it’s easy to make big mistakes and I was able to get away with the one or two poor swings. And then I putted phenomenal.”
At the 16th, he hit his approach to four feet and he knew it was on.
“Certainly on 16 I was aware that if I make that 4-footer for birdie and then birdie the last two I would shoot 59. I was aware of it, I was giving it all I had and I had a good chance. On 17 I hit a nice tee shot in a good spot to kind of hook a sand wedge into that back right pin for me. And I hit a good shot, I had 18 feet though, I should have hit that closer, but still had a good chance to make the putt.” He missed the with the pressure off, birdied 18 for a 12-under par 60.
“I think that’s the big key is that my excitement level of playing and competing and my fresh attitude after having a few months after allowed me to be really focused throughout the round and focus on each shot very clearly and kind of have a good picture of the shot I wanted to hit as well as where I wanted to miss it when I did miss it. And that was very helpful today,” he said afterward.
“I had a really good off season in that I had I was very committed in my workouts, I felt stronger, my speed is starting to come back, I’m starting to hit the ball pretty good distance now, and I’ve been putting really well now the last few years. So I felt like heading into 2019 if I can drive the ball longer then I won’t have to worry about that, I can start trying to hit little cuts in the fairway and make some putts like I’ve been doing and I thought it would be a good year. Well this is I’m — hopefully this is kind of a little foreshadowing of the year to come because this is a nice way to start.”
For comparison, world’s No. 1 Justin Rose shot 68 on the same course and defending champion Jon Rahm, battling a touch of the flu, shot 66.
Rookie Adam long shot a nine-under par 63 on the Nicklaus course while another rookie, Curtis Luck from Australia, shot 64 at LaQuinta.
The leader won’t be determined until Saturday and the field finishes play at the three courses.
