On Wednesday, Phil Mickelson told the media that "I'm hitting the ball better than I have in a long time, possibly ever." It was hard to fathom given that he had played just one tournament in a month, and that was after learning that his wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. But sports, even with all the corporate sponsorships and multi-million-dollar television deals, serve as a distraction from real life, and maybe that's how Phil is approaching U.S. Open week.
More Coverage: First Round Not What Tiger Wanted
In 2002, the last time the Open was at Bethpage, the fans embraced him as one of their own. And now, seven years later -- and in light of the news about his wife Amy -- we're all Mickelson fans. Galleries cheered Phil as he made his way to the practice range, they cheered him on the first tee, and they cheered him between shots. And then Mickelson's game started to resemble his pre-tournament press conference comments -- he struck the ball well, hit pinpoint second shots into greens softened by yesterday's deluge, made the putts he was supposed to, and even the ones he wasn't (birdie at the par 3 17th).
Thirteen holes into his opening round Mickelson was at 3-under, just one shot off the lead. Then, inexplicably, he missed two putts from inside three feet on Nos. 14 and 15 -- both leading to bogeys -- and he suddenly found himself 1-under. And worse: after Phil parred No. 17, he missed a makable birdie putt on the final hole.
Still, a first round 69 isn't bad (it could be worse), particularly at the U.S. Open, and he'll head to the clubhouse T-5. And because Thursday was a wash out, Phil will be back on the course shortly to start his second round. If he can somehow find a way to convert those looks from inside five feet (and that's certainly much easier than trying to figure out why you can't find the fairway, for example), the weekend could be very interesting.
