AUGUSTA, Ga. — As the defending champion, Phil Mickelson knows better than most when Augusta National Golf Club is primed for scoring. In the first round of the Masters today, he knew that the conditions were set up perfectly for that.
Slight breeze, warm sun, firm surfaces.
And yet, Mickelson felt like he let some valuable opportunities slip away.
“It’s okay, just okay,” Mickelson said afterward when asked about how his round went. “I didn’t shoot myself out of it, but I didn’t make up ground on the field the way I wanted to, so I’ve got to go do it tomorrow.”
After firing a 2-under-par 70 during today’s first round, Mickelson walked off the 18th hole feeling like he should be much closer to the leaders — Rory McIlroy and Alvaro Quiros — when he tees off this morning.
He parred the first seven holes of the day before finally getting into red numbers with a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole.
But the real missed opportunity came late in his round.
Mickelson got his score to 3 under par heading to the 18th hole, but missed the green on his approach shot and couldn’t avoid carding a bogey. A birdie at the last hole would have left him three shots behind the leaders, but instead he now sits five shots back.
“I scrambled well today to stay in, but I also let four or five good birdie opportunities slide,” Mickelson said. “I’m going to have to capitalize on those opportunities tomorrow if I’m going to go low.”
Much has been made about Mickelson’s decision to carry two drivers in his bag this week, but when he got to the first tee, Lefty was carrying just one.
“I thought I was going to need 3-iron on hole four and possibly 15 because the wind was in,” he said. “I also was driving it really well last week and didn’t want to overthink it or mess with it. So I ended up on the range this morning and just decided to go with that one.”
In fact, that was how his day ended.
After the disappointing finish to his first round, Mickelson did his customary interviews and autograph sessions before heading directly back to the practice range. With so many players going low on day one, the 40-year old defending champion knew he needed to do something to change his mojo before heading back out there today to try to get back in the race.
As usual, he hoped that after a let-down finish, he could find it on the range.
“I mean, it certainly helps,” Mickelson said. “I missed it in spots where I could get up-and-down. In spots that I knew the chip, I had a good angle and that’s why I was disappointed on 18.”
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