Lefty comes to life with opening 63 at Riviera
LOS ANGELES -- With a flop shot that was amazing even by his standards, Phil Mickelson took a step toward shaking off his West Coast doldrums Thursday with his best round ever at Riviera.
From 40 yards behind the 10th green, his ball buried in the rough and his landing area no bigger than a hub cap, Mickelson's barely cleared the bunker and settled 6 feet from the hole to start his day with a birdie.
It sent him to an 8-under 63 and a one-shot lead at the Northern Trust Open, a round Mickelson desperately needed after one of the worst starts to his career.
"It was one of the better shots I've hit this year," Mickelson said.
That's not saying much considering this was the first time he has broken 70 on the Left Coast, where Lefty has compiled 16 of his 34 victories on the PGA Tour.
The rest of his game also was sharp. The misses weren't nearly as wild, the putts dropped far more frequently and Mickelson picked up confidence with each of his eight birdies on a gorgeous morning off Sunset Boulevard.
"There's three more rounds to go," he said. "But I feel like I'm back on track."
Scott McCarron, so intimidated by Riviera when he played at UCLA that he wondered if he could ever break 70, birdied his last hole for a 64 to give himself another chance at a tournament where he has twice played in the final group without winning.
The group at 66 included Pebble Beach winner Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, K.J. Choi and Luke Donald.
Riviera was in immaculate shape, and with ideal scoring conditions, 52 players shots in the 60s. That included Fred Couples and former Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger at 67.
Mickelson is the defending champion at the Northern Trust Open and wildly popular in these parts, and he had a sizable gallery.
The photographers, though, belonged to 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa.
The Japanese sensation made his PGA Tour debut before about 100 members of the Japanese media, along with a dozen or so other media curious about the "Shy Prince" who made history at age 15 by winning on the Japan Golf Tour.
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