Phil Mickelson starts off well, but can the 21-time tour winner stay on top for his first major title?
By BOB HARIG
Published August 15, 2003
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Perhaps this is the way to do it. Stay away from the course before the tournament, stay away from the rough during it, stay away from the media after.
Nothing else has worked for Phil Mickelson. Why not?
In search of his first major title after 41 tries as a professional, Mickelson was a mildly surprising co-leader after the first round of the 85th PGA Championship on Thursday when he shot 4-under-par 66 at Oak Hill Country Club.
It tied Lefty's tournament low score and put him atop a leaderboard, with Australia's Rod Pampling, for one of the few times this year.
After the round Mickelson declined the typical media center grilling reserved for tournament leaders, answering reporters' questions at a makeshift interview area near the putting green.
"I just played a five-hour round, I'm mentally drained, physically drained, hungry and I think it's more important that I maintain my physical strength, mental strength and have a break than it is to accommodate everyone here," said Mickelson, who with Pampling is one shot ahead of Billy Andrade and two ahead of Masters champion Mike Weir and Lee Janzen.
Mickelson also decided to avoid the madness before the tournament, opting for a friendly round at the nearby Country Club of Rochester (where he shot a back nine 6-under-par 29) and a visit to the Buffalo Bills training camp, where he was videotaped tossing a football.
This is not new for Mickelson. He took similar pretournament outings to other courses at this year's U.S. Open and British Open.
"I don't feel as though I have tried to stay off the radar," Mickelson, 33, said. "I just wanted to have a little time to myself to get things going again."
Mickelson used the time to work with his instructor, Rick Smith, and said a change he made to lengthen his swing helped his driving. That part of the game has plagued Mickelson, who has not won a PGA Tour event in more than a year and until a sixth-place finish Sunday at the International had no top-10s since a third at the Masters. Mickelson has dropped this year from second in the world rankings to 10th.
Although Mickelson is fourth on the PGA Tour in driving distance, averaging more than 304 yards, he is a woeful 192nd in driving accuracy, hitting 50.8 percent of the fairways.
But he kept the ball in play Thursday, hitting nine of 14 fairways, making six birdies and two bogeys on a course that yielded just 12 sub-par scores.
The same could not be said for Tiger Woods, who failed to break par during the opening round of each major championship this year. Woods' 74 left him in some danger of missing the 36-hole cut. He was tied for 58th, with the top 70 and ties advancing to the weekend.
Much was made of Woods switching to his old Titleist driver two weeks ago, but it didn't seem to matter at Oak Hill, where he hit five of 14 fairways and made one birdie.
"It's a little bit frustrating because I didn't quite get the ball in play, and on a golf course this plain you have to get the ball in play," Woods said. "I just kept putting a lot of pressure on my game because of it from there on in just to make pars. I did a pretty good job of just making pars."
Well, not at the last hole, where Woods missed a 2-foot par putt to fall eight shots behind. That part, at least, was nothing new for Woods this year: He has trailed by big margins after the first round of every major this year.
Pampling, 33, from Australia, is in his second full year on the PGA Tour. His biggest claim to fame in golf was leading the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie with an opening 71, then missing the 36-hole cut the next day after 86.
"You learn that nothing counts after day one," said Pampling, who played his round without a bogey. "There's still three days to go. Come Sunday, if you're talking to me, I might not be this calm."
Can Pampling make it to Saturday? The biggest question is, can Mickelson make it to this point on Sunday?
The winner of 21 PGA Tour events, Mickelson long ago figured to have a major championship trophy. Until Woods came along, Mickelson had more victories at an earlier age than anyone but Jack Nicklaus.
Mickelson has 16 top-10s at majors, including three straight thirds at the Masters. Two years ago he came up a shot short at the PGA Championship to David Toms. And at the 1999 U.S. Open he watched Payne Stewart drain a 15-foot putt on the final hole to beat him by a stroke.
"I don't know," Mickelson said. "It's Thursday right now and there is a lot of golf left, and I'm not looking that far down yet."
