Mickelson’s 67 holding up into 2nd rd at US Open
ARDMORE, Pa. — Phil Mickelson’s round held up, and so did Tiger Woods’ left wrist.
Now Woods needs to find a way to stay out of Merion’s wicked rough.
Mickelson’s 3-under 67 was the top score in a delayed first round that was completed Friday morning at the U.S. Open. He was one shot of ahead of Luke Donald and Mathew Goggin, who played in a cool drizzle that was far gentler than the storms that interrupted play twice on Thursday.
“I think everyone thought that as soon as the course got wet it was going to play easy,” said Donald, who missed a 4-foot par putt at No. 18. “The scores certainly aren’t showing that. The tough holes are extremely tough.”
Donald all but made a U-turn on the course because officials tried to make up for lost time due to Thursday’s foul weather and started the second round almost immediately. The results were mixed. The former world No. 1 quickly moved into the lead with back-to-back birdies, including a chip-in at the par-3 13th, but he canceled that out with bogeys at Nos. 15 and 2 before a birdie at the 3rd left him tied again with Mickelson.
The quick turnarounds were a logistical challenge on a course that required long shuttle rides to move golfers to and fro, leaving them little time to refuel.
“I got no choice,” Donald said. “Just get out there, grab something quick to eat, hit a few balls and get out there.”
Woods completed a round of 73, but not before pulling out his driver and putting his first tee shot of the day well right of the fairway into the high grass. On Thursday, he would wince and shake his left arm, particularly his wrist, when playing out of the rough, but there was no obvious sign of discomfort Friday when he played his second shot at the long par-4 No. 12.
There wasn’t much else good about the shot, which landed in lesser rough about 100 yards from the hole. Woods then got the ball on the green, but he missed a downhill 5-foot putt and bogeyed the hole to go to 3 over.
Woods birdied the short par-3 13th, but he put his tee shot in the rough near the edge of a steep bunker at the par-3 17th and dropped another shot.
After his round, Woods wasn’t in the mood to say much about whatever ailed him. He said his left arm “didn’t feel very good” on “a few shots” Thursday. Asked what he felt, he answered: “Pain.”
“But it is what it is,” he added. “And you move on and I got to get ready for this next round in a little bit.”
Woods dropped to 4 over through the first nine holes of his second round. His approach at 18 landed just past the wicker-basket pin and kept rolling, coming to a rest in the rough behind the green. A chip and two putts led to a bogey, putting him seven shots off the lead.
The rest of the marquee group featuring the world’s top three players didn’t fare much better. Rory McIlroy and Masters champion Adam Scott were both 3 over midway through the second round.
Scott was 3 under when darkness stopped play Thursday, but he dropped a shot at the 12th after his approach landed just short of the pin, spun backward and rolled some 75 feet to the edge of the fairway rough.
Scott then bogeyed No. 14 and put his tee shot out of bounds on the way to a double bogey at the 15th in his first-round 72.
Donald held the overnight lead at 4 under through 13 holes, but he bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18 to put him one behind Mickelson, who had a much-needed late afternoon tee time after a whirlwind Thursday. Mickelson shot his 67 – his best opening round in the U.S. Open since 1999 – on little sleep after an overnight flight from San Diego, where he attended his daughter’s eighth-grade graduation.
Mickelson said he hit the wall at the turn and needed a “caffeine booster” to stay sharp.
“I’ll just go back tonight and rest, and I’ll have all day tomorrow to rest and it’s fine,” Mickelson said. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”
Woods, meanwhile, first appeared to hurt his hand after trying to gouge out of the deep rough on the opening hole, then shook his wrist again after hitting a 5-wood out of the rough at No. 5.
No. 11 was particularly difficult: He doubled over after hitting his second shot from the left rough, the ball landing in even thicker rough near the green. He dropped his arm to his side immediately after his next shot and was shaking the arm as he walked on the green.
Coming into the Open, the question was how Merion would fare against a modern-day championship field. It last hosted this event in 1981, with the thinking that today’s golfers had outgrown the course.
Certainly, the 301-yard par-3 10th and 102-yard par-3 13th yielded their share of makeable shots, but the high rough, obstructed sightlines and contoured greens did their share to keep the scores from getting low.
“This course never lets up,” defending champion Webb Simpson said after his opening round 71.
