Golf:Phil Mickelson rode the conditions to lead the way at the end of the first day of the Northern Trust Open in Pacific Palisades, California. The four-time major winner, who tasted success at Pebble Beach last weekend, started his campaign to win back-to-back titles with a five-under 66 on day one, leaving him a shot clear of JB Holmes and Hunter Mahan.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington was one of a handful of players who could not complete their rounds because of darkness and he was stranded on one over par with two holes to play.
On a blustery day, Mickelson had been tied for the lead with Holmes and Mahanr until the final hole, when he chipped in from 35 feet for a sixth birdie of the day. Jonathan Byrd and Carl Pettersson are a shot further back, while English duo Luke Donald and Justin Rose are both handily placed on one under.
Play was suspended early due to darkness leaving Mickelson the happiest man in the clubhouse. “It feels really good to get that one extra shot because I felt like I left one or two out on 16, 17, and you hate to have such a good round and let a few slide late.
“It was a challenging day today because Riviera doesn’t give you great opportunities to run balls onto the green. “That kikuyu (grass) grabs it so you really have to fly it on.
Fortunately the greens were somewhat receptive, and that’s why I think the scores weren’t extremely high.
A lot of them were right around par.”
Also in the mix towards the top of the leaderboard is Sergio Garcia who is one of eight players grouped together on two under, with the likes of Stewart Cink and KJ Choi alongside him. Scotland‘s Martin Laird was five over having completed the course, two better off than American Ryder Cup hopeful Anthony Kim.
Details (USA unless stated)
66Phil Mickelson
67Hunter Mahan, J.B. Holmes
68Carl Pettersson (Swe), Jonathan Byrd
69Brendan Steele, Sergio Garcia (Spa), K J Choi (Kor), Brandt Jobe, Stewart Cink, Matt Kuchar
70David Hearn (Can), Bubba Watson, Tom Pernice Jnr., Fred Couples, Justin Rose (Eng), Cameron Beckman, Marc Leishman (Aus), Luke Donald (Eng), Tommy Gainey, Cameron Tringale
71Zach Johnson, Harrison Frazar, John Mallinger, Keegan Bradley, Ricky Barnes, Dustin Johnson, Kevin Stadler, Mathew Goggin (Aus), Briny Baird
72Pat Perez, Vaughn Taylor, Jason Dufner, Billy Mayfair, Justin Leonard, Sung-hoon Kang (Kor), Michael Thompson, John Rollins, Bill Haas, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Hunter Haas, Y.E. Yang (Kor)
73Nick Watney, Spencer Levin, Bill Lunde, Jeff Overton, Gary Woodland, Graham Delaet (Can), Matt Bettencourt, Ernie Els (Rsa), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Erik Compton, Adam Scott (Aus), Kyung-tae Kim (Kor), John Senden (Aus), Scott Piercy, Kevin Chappell, Jason Day (Aus), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Johnson Wagner, Josh Teater
74Bud Cauley, Brian Davis (Eng), Bryce Molder, Kyle Stanley, John Merrick, Chris Di Marco, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Charles Howell III, D.A. Points, Kevin Na, Vijay Singh (Fij), Chad Collins, Robert Allenby (Aus), Camilo Villegas (Col)
75Greg Chalmers (Aus), Danny Lee (NZ), James Driscoll, Mark Wilson, Charlie Wi (Kor), Andres Romero (Arg), Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Brandt Snedeker, Rickie Fowler, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven), Tommy Biershenk
76Charley Hoffman, Ryan Palmer, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Derek Lamely, Blake Adams, George McNeill, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), David Mathis, Jason Bohn, Jordan Spieth
77Kris Blanks, Ted Potter, Jr., Paul Goydos
78Anthony Kim, Greg Owen (Eng), Patrick Cantlay, Tom Gillis, Jamie Lovemark
79Chris Kirk, Jeff Maggert, Robert Garrigus, Austin Graham
80Bob Estes
