Phil Mickelson birdied six of the first eight holes and broke the Spyglass Hill course record on Thursday with a 10-under 62 that gave him a three-shot lead in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
He took advantage of pristine conditions on the Monterey Peninsula, with brilliant blue skies and only a trace of wind that made Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Poppy Hills so tame that more than half the 180-man field broke par.
One birdie came out of a bed of ice plant on the fourth hole.
Another came on the 527-yard seventh hole, when Mickelson hit a six-iron off the cart path to the edge of the green and easily got up and down. He hit driver on the 325-yard 17th hole that left him eight yards from the front of the green, leading to a tap-in birdie.
”Honestly, I’ve never driven it this far,” Mickelson said.
A 15-foot birdie on the final hole gave Mickelson a three-shot lead over Davis Love III, Charles Howell III, Kevin Sutherland, Daniel Chopra and Hunter Mahan.
It was the largest first-round lead at this tournament since Tom Watson led by three in 1978. Mickelson’s 62 was two shots better than the previous course record at Spyglass, last set by David Berganio four years ago.
”A 62 is good at Bermuda Dunes,” Sutherland said. ”A 62 at Spyglass is a whole different story. That’s an amazing round.”
Sutherland didn’t see it; he shot his 65 at Poppy Hills.
”We were on the 18th tee, and it’s amazing to say this, but we heard a roar,” Sutherland said. ”That’s got to be a couple miles away. We heard it pretty easily, and I thought it can only be one person. I’m not sure it was him, but a 62 at Spyglass? I’m sure it was.”
It’s all starting to run together for Mickelson, the Masters champion who already is making a lot of noise. It started with his 59 in the Grand Slam of Golf in Hawaii last November, then the 60 last week in the FBR Open.
”The biggest thing for me is I’ve been driving the ball a lot longer than I did last year,” Mickelson said. ”And all that wedge work that I did last year and continued this year … I’m starting to have a lot more wedges in. I’m taking advantage of it. I’m able to make a lot more birdies now.”
There was no shortage of those Thursday in some of the best conditions at Pebble in recent memory.
”Even in a practice round, I’ve never seen the weather this good around here,” Howell said.
He also took advantage with a bogey-free round at Pebble Beach, highlighted by an 80-foot bunker shot that grazed the edge of the cup on the 18th for a tap-in birdie.
Mike Weir had a six-under 66 at Poppy Hills, while British Open champion Todd Hamilton was among those at 65.
Defending champion Vijay Singh played five groups behind Mickelson at Spyglass, and wound up 11 shots behind after opening with a 73, only his second time over par in his past 21 rounds at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Mickelson now heads to Poppy Hills, which features five par-fives and is the easiest course in the rotation.
”It’s important that I keep pushing,” Mickelson said. ”I’m fortunate to get off to a good start, but my mindset is I still have to go out and shoot low rounds.” — Sapa-AP