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| US Masters Golf 2011 |
Nothing the American does on the course is ever conventional and the huge galleries that follow him love him all the more for it.
He began his bid to win back-to-back Masters titles with an opening round of two-under-par 70. By his own standards, it was a standard score that was neither great nor disastrous, but his round was anything but routine.
His driving off the tee was erratic and he found only four of 14 fairways, spraying the ball left then right, into trees and on the pine needles. But none of that was unexpected.
Mickelson has always been an unorthodox player prepared to gamble and he needed all his wits to stay in touch with the leaders, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Spain's Alvaro Quiros, who ended the day five shots ahead of him.
The left-handed hitting American made up for his erratic drives with a masterful demonstration of scrambling, conjuring up ways to make par from seemingly hopeless positions.
It was not pretty but his powers of recovery were effective and he made only one bogey all day, on the final hole, when he overshot the green and his ball went into the crowd.
"It's okay, just okay," he told reporters.
"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."
Mickelson knew he had not played his best but had no need to be alarmed. In two of his three Masters victories, he shot 70 or higher in the first round and the world number three had much to be pleased about.
He still created plenty of birdie opportunities so knows that he can shoot a better score.
"I scrambled well today to stay in, but I also let four or five good birdie opportunities slide," he said.
"I'm going to have to capitalize on those opportunities tomorrow if I'm going to go low."
Mickelson's topsy-turvy day proved to be an eye-opener for U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein, who was in the same group as Mickelson and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy, who shot a 69.
"It was awesome," said Uihlein, who posted an even-par round of 72.
"He's obviously an incredibly nice guy, and it was just fun to pick his brain and just talk to him a little bit. And he's an unbelievable player, too."
Sources: http://www.reuters.com
