   
| Scrambling short game saves Mickelson from wildness off tee  PGATOUR.com Correspondent PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Two flagsticks. Thirteen one-putts. Six fairways. No rock.  Phil Mickelson and caddie Jim Mackay faced some interesting angles into the greens after several wayward tee shots. (Sam Greenwood/WireImage)
We're used to Phil Mickelson taking down golf courses with his flop shots. But Friday he was just making magic. Something-out-of-nothing stuff. Bogey-run early, an eagle coming in to separate him from the field -- by a single shot shot. Artistic? Creative? How about inventing things out of necessity? He missed fairways and scrambled. He hit a pair of flagsticks and almost holed out. He frittered away an early lead with some where-did-those-come-from tee shots of his. But at the end of the day, he walked off the 18th green after saving par to hold onto a one-shot lead over Nathan Green -- and a tightly packed field -- going into the weekend at THE PLAYERS Championship. "I'll gladly take 72,'' Mickelson said. "I didn't put myself in some great spots, so relied on my short game to keep me in it.'' Usually, it's that signature lob wedge. The one he's hit a bazillion shots with over the years. But this time, well, it was whatever was in his hand. Just a few weeks into his new alliance with Butch Harmon, the changes off the tee are taking shape. But it was hard to tell early on. Water off the tee at the fifth. Rough at the seventh. Missed green at the eighth. Three bogeys in four holes, and suddenly the first-round co-leader was just another one of the guys. "The difference today was my misses off the tee were a lot bigger,'' he said. "I hit some very poor shots today and put myself in tough spots to make par. Whereas yesterday even though I missed a few fairways, they were right around the edge and I was able to still play aggressively. "I hit some very poor shots the front nine and I was fortunate to only be 1 over (on the front).'' He stopped the slide with a birdie at the ninth when his wedge-that-takes-down-courses hit the flag and settled just inside 8 feet. If you want another key stat, other than those shots that hit the pins, here's one -- Mickelson is perfect inside 10 feet on putts this week: 33 for 33. Yes, his short game is hanging in there while he straightens out those wayward tee and iron shots. "I don't feel like it's far off,'' he said of the Harmonized swing. And his deadly short game? With a lot of chipping areas around the greens, firmer fairways this year and not as much rough as usual, it's making magic. "The biggest thing, short game is now important here, whereas before rough was so tough you didn't have a chance,'' he said. "So hitting fairways and greens was the most crucial part. Now it's a more complete test, so I'm able to salvage pars when I hit less than perfect shots.'' Pars. Birdies. Here, you avoid bogeys. Or worse. And when you get a chance to make some magic? Or drop in an eagle? Take it. Mickelson's 6-iron to the 16th green --- 194 yards was the number he was worried about to carry the left side of the bunker -- got a little help from the wind and kicked down to 7 feet for eagle.
"It was a fortunate bounce, but it happened to be a shot that I hit right on line,'' he said. "But you still need that lucky bounce to get close.'' And hitting those flagsticks at the ninth and 14th? "Usually about 10 times a year I'll hit a pin and it will cost me a shot. It will spin back 40 feet, a shot that would have been close, what have you,'' he said. "But the one on 9 ended up five, six feet and I ended up making that. "The one on 14 certainly didn't hurt because the ball would have probably released well past the hole." Mickelson hasn't had the best of luck at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course. He finished tied for third here in 2004, but he had just one other top 10 in his first 13 tries. But he came in having finished tied for third at both the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and Wachovia Championship. And he hung in there Friday to hang onto the lead with a 72, despite some low numbers -- including a pair of 66s -- out there for the taking. Chalk it up to magic, invention and, well, saving pars. At the 11th, Mickelson's approach found the bunker and he had 38 yards to the pin. The ball came out fast and flew 20 feet past the pin. Broadcasters Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo had differing opinions on whether or not he hit a rock in the bunker at the 11th. Miller thought it had; Faldo didn't. Mickelson was asked to settle the argument and he did. Sort of. Did he hit a rock? "No, it just came out quick. There wasn't as much sand. It didn't. It certainly looked like it. It came out with no spin and came out fast. But I didn't see a rock there. But it didn't come out anywhere near as I hoped." So, Faldo was wrong? "Technically, you could say it looked like it hit a rock,'' Mickelson said diplomatically. "Maybe it did, I didn't see it.'' Whatever did or didn't happen, Mickelson took it from there. He had the line and the touch. Another save. Another par. And a scramble to the 36-hole lead. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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