Phil Mickelson held a oneshot lead after the first day of the Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, yesterday as fellow American Davis Love won a watch worth more than $100,000.
Love, who trailed Mickelson by a shot after a four-under-par 68, received his prize for eagling the par-five ninth. But it was the left-handed Mickelson who topped the leaderboard in this elite 12-man event after a 67 including seven birdies - five of them on the back nine - and two bogeys.
"Having the lead is a positive in that it means I'm playing well," said Mickelson. "But I don't want to get overly excited about it."
The 27-year-old, who disappointed on his last trip to Sun City two years ago, found that a combination of the swirling wind and the hot air at altitude made club selection difficult.
"It was hard to select the right club and with some of the pins tucked in the ears on these greens, it made precise club selection very difficult. More often than not, you had to play for the middle of the green," he added.
Love birdied the second, but gave shots back at three and six, before his eagle led him into birdies at the next two holes and another on the par-three 16th.
Ernie Els, who shared third place with Bernhard Langer on 69, recorded the only other eagle of the day - on the par-five 14th - to add to his birdies on one, six and 10, but dropped a shot on the 16th. Langer was less steady, picking up birdies on the 2nd, 8th, 11th, 14th and 17th, while losing shots on the 10th and 16th.
However, there was little joy for British trio Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Colin Montgomerie. Defending champion Montgomerie all but disappeared from contention with a 78, while Faldo carded a 73 and Woosnam recorded a 74 along with Americans Justin Leonard and Tom Lehman. Sweden's Jesper Parnevik posted 70 and Zimbabwe's Nick Price 71.
First-Round Scores: 67 - P Mickelson (US). 68 - D Love III (US). 69 - B Langer (Ger), E Els (Rsa). 70 - J Parnevik (Swe). 71 - N Price (Zim). 72 - N Faldo (Eng). 74 - T Lehman (US), J Leonard (US), I Woosnam (Wal). 76 - M O'Meara (US). 78 - C Montgomerie (Sco).
