Phil Mickelson produced an impressive round of 63 at Riviera Country Club to take a one-shot lead after yesterday’s first round of the Northern Trust Open was suspended due to darkness. Defending champion Mickelson fired an eight-under-par effort that saw him lead fellow American Scott McCarronby by one stroke.
Four golfers were still on the course when play was halted and will resume their rounds at today.
Graeme McDowell finished on one-under while Padraig Harrington, still struggling with his game, was one-over.
Mickelson, who has not finished higher than 42nd in his first three events of the PGA Tour season, showed signs he was coming back into form in birdieing four of his first eight holes after starting on the back nine. The left-hander then picked up shots at the first, third, fourth and seventh to complete a satisfying day‘s work.
McCarron also sank eight birdies but dropped a stroke on the par-four 13th to sign for a seven-under 64.
A group of seven golfers that includes Dustin Johnson and Jim Furyk are a further two shots back on five-under,
Johnson, who won the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last week, carded six birdies and a bogey in his 66. After reaching the turn at one-under, the 24-year-old birdied the 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th.
Also tied for third place are Luke Donald, KJ Choi, John Merrick, Dean Wilson and Andres Romero.
First round scores
(USA unless stated, par 71):
Note: Four players have yet to complete their first rounds
63Phil Mickelson
64Scott McCarron
66Dustin Johnson, John Merrick, Jim Furyk, Dean Wilson, KJ Choi (Kor), Andres Romero (Arg), Luke Donald (Eng)
67Kirk Triplett, Paul Azinger, Todd Hamilton, Tommy Armour III, Fred Couples, Jeff Klauk, Kevin Na, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Brandt Snedeker, Briny Baird, D.J. Trahan
68Steve Stricker, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Charley Hoffman, Retief Goosen (Rsa), Chris DiMarco, Woody Austin, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Ben Curtis, Steve Elkington (Aus), Rich Beem, Bo Van Pelt, Brandt Jobe, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Tim Clark (Rsa), Ryan Moore
69Brian Davis (Eng), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Brendon De Jonge, Pat Perez, Jeff Quinney, Oliver Wilson (Eng), Bubba Watson, Chez Reavie, Brian Bateman, Hunter Mahan, Will MacKenzie, Michael Allen, Bill Haas, Jimmy Walker, Marc Turnesa, Jason Gore
70Michael Letzig, Vaughn Taylor, Brian Gay, Soren Hansen (Den), David Duval, John Mallinger, Justin Leonard, Mike Weir (Can), Brad Adamonis, Vincent Johnson, Graeme McDowell(NIrl), Joe Ogilvie, Matt Kuchar, Peter Lonard (Aus), Charlie Wi (Kor), Kenny Perry, Richard S Johnson (Swe), John Rollins, Robert Allenby (Aus), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Mark Calcavecchia, Cameron Beckman, Rocco Mediate, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn), Johnson Wagner, Jonathan Byrd
71Nick Watney, Nick O'Hern (Aus), Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Steve Pate, Ernie Els (Rsa), Stephen Ames (Can), Nicholas Thompson, Stuart Appleby (Aus), John Senden (Aus), Steve Lowery, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), George McNeill, Jeff Maggert, Mathew Goggin (Aus), Troy Matteson, Scott Verplank
72David Berganio Jnr., Kevin Sutherland, Heath Slocum, Charles Howell III, Chad Campbell, Bob Estes, Vijay Singh (Fij), Ben Crane, Martin Laird (Sco), Bryce Molder, Jerry Kelly, Eric Axley, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Tom Pernice Jnr., Cliff Kresge, Mark Wilson, Padraig Harrington(Irl)
73Jin Park (Kor), Tim Herron, Zach Johnson, Lucas Glover, Steve Flesch, Harrison Frazar, Ricky Barnes, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Daniel Chopra (Swe), Nathan Green (Aus), Steve Marino, J.B. Holmes, Ken Duke, Corey Pavin, Jason Bohn
74J J Henry, Bart Bryant, Ryan Palmer
75David Morland IV (Can), Jeff Overton, Tim Petrovic, Parker McLachlin, Kevin Streelman, Alex Cejka (Ger)
76Billy Mayfair, Tom Lehman, James Nitties (Aus), Matt Bettencourt
77Brad Faxon
79Jim Gormley
