Superstar group fails to live up to expectations
NORTON, Mass. -- Perhaps this is why the fast company he kept on Friday didn't give him many goose bumps.
Phil Mickelson spent the early part of this week kicking back for a few days with the Bush clan at the presidential getaway in Maine, fishing, teeing it up and generally shooting the breeze about everything. Well, almost everything. One subject was off limits.
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| Despite their average rounds, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson still managed to smile. (Getty Images) |
Fittingly, the overall approval rating of the famous group in which Mickelson played in the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship on Friday was nothing to gab about, either.
Shop talk would have been chop talk.
In their first-ever pairing in an official PGA Tour event, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Mickelson, the reigning Big Three of professional golf, combined to finish 3 over for the day, a decidedly underwhelming display that generated jaw-dropping shots for all the wrong reasons.
"You would think we'd play a little better than we did," said Woods, the defending champion, after a sloppy, 1-over 72. "Collectively, we all felt like we left shots out there and hopefully we can clean it up tomorrow."
Somebody had better bring a fire hose, because this was messy business that had the estimated 8,000 following their threesome shaking their heads in wonderment. The bleeding began almost immediately when Singh tossed a nice approach shot to within 16 feet onto the first green, then four-putted for the second time in his past three rounds.
The Fijian, also a former Deutsche Bank winner, came steeled for battle with his two biggest rivals, wearing sunglasses that appeared to have earplugs affixed. Perhaps he was trying to filter out fan noise generated for his popular pairings partners. But after an uneven 74, he might have been trying to keep his identity hidden. His partners could relate.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said this week that a crucial element of the FedEx Cup race over the next three weeks will be whether anybody runs away with the points lead and, as he put it, the battle is "ho-hum" by the time the tour reaches the fourth playoff event in Atlanta. Based on the display put forth by the three players ranked Nos. 4-5-6 in points, they don't seem likely to ruin his dream scenario.
If these are the three dudes most likely to inherit the FedEx bonus of $10 million, Friday was a comedy of heirs. For Woods and Mickelson, it was reminiscent of their Ryder Cup pairing three years ago. They definitely didn't bring out the best in one another, unless you were looking for belly laughs.
Unlike his partners, Mickelson got off to a great start, then butchered the ninth hole, slicing a drive into the trees and taking three hacks to extricate himself, leading to a triple bogey that knocked him back to level par. Balls were caroming around in the trees so often, fans couldn't tell what Lefty was doing.
"It didn't come out exactly the way I had planned," said Mickelson, who is tied for 43rd after a 70.
