LEMONT, Ill. -- Bounce-back advantage, Phil.

At least for the moment.

Not that we’re counting, mind you. It’s only round one. But, like it or not, it’s how people are looking at the return of the top two players in the game after, shall we say, disappointing U.S. Opens. We promise not bore you again with those ugly details.

For the record, Phil Mickelson opened up the rest of his season with a 4-under-par 67 at the 2006 Cialis Western Open. And Tiger Woods? He fought through a couple of bad tee shots and some “beautiful” but misread putts to a 1-over 72. And that, with a birdie at the final hole.

Nice way to finish, someone offered.

“That’s one way of looking at it,’’ Tiger said with a wry grin.

“It was a bit of a frustrating day. I hit a lot of beautiful putts that didn't go in early and didn't really have any control of my irons today. My distance control wasn't very good. My direction wasn't very good. I hit the driver halfway decent today, just didn't take advantage of my irons when I had the opportunity.’’

And, about those putts. ..

“I hit so many beautiful putts early that rolled right over the edge of the hole,’’ he said. “It's disappointing they didn't go in, but I hit good putts, so that's not something that's going to bug me at all. I had a three putt there at 14, but I felt like I really rolled it really well today -- they just didn't go in. If I was hitting putts that I knew were miss hits that didn't go in, then we've got a problem.’’

The only real problem appeared to be those irons. And, well, a driver at No. 15 that went into the woods and wound up unplayable. Another bogey on a day when he felt he could have scored much better.

The problem? His release.

“I know what I'm doing wrong, just having a hard time stopping it,’’ he said. “I'm going to go to the range, there's plenty of daylight, and fix it.’’ Mickelson played earlier in slightly less windy conditions, but his start -- he bogeyed his first two holes -- had him on shaky ground, too. He pulled it back together with a birdie at the 13th hole (his fourth of the day), though, and added another at the 15th to make the turn at even.

Mickelson then birdied three in a row -- Nos. 3-5 -- to get to 3 under, gave one back at the sixth, and eagled the par-5 ninth hole.

“Well, obviously to make an eagle required some luck,’’ Mickelson said. “I was just trying to get on the green and the ball ended up rolling by the pin. But it's fun to finish a round of golf like that.’’

Truth be told, it was almost a double eagle.

“Well, it was right at the pin,’’ he said. “I thought it was going to come within inches of hole but then roll off the back edge. I'm just pleased it stayed within eight feet of the cup.’’

The only real problem Mickelson had all day was with his L-wedge. He put one in play that he thought he might use at the British Open in two weeks. It’s out of his bag now.

“I was kind of experimenting,’’ he said. “I ended up hitting one of the worst chips there on (No. 6) and I hit two horrible chips on 10 and 11. So I’ll go back to the wedge I used at the (U.S.) Open.’’

Mickelson admitted the last time he hit the ball the way he wanted to was the Masters. But last week’s practice sessions have him on a better track.

“I really started to get tuned in and hit it much better, and I didn’t get off to the start I wanted,’’ he said.

But all in all? “It was a fun round today,’’ he said.

For Tiger, it’s all about getting in rounds -- hopefully, he said, it would be four this week, joking about his missed cut at Winged Foot -- and the good news is he’s doing on a course where he’s won three times.

“I feel comfortable with this golf course,’’ he said. “Even though I didn't have it today, I still had a lot of opportunities to post a round in the red. I didn't do it, but at least I had the opportunity to do it. I wasn't that far off, it was just a matter of tweak it here and there, but this is just a wonderful golf course. “I always feel good playing here. Even if I'm swinging the club great or I'm swinging the club poor, I always love playing this course.’’

Bounce-back round two? Stay tuned.