A red-hot Phil Mickelson fired a brilliant front-nine 28 on Friday that gave him a share of the first-round lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Mickelson started early on the 10th tee and went a sizzling seven-under through his opening nine holes as he quickly showed how easy scoring could be on the soft greens at the TPC Boston, before closing with an eight-under-par 63.
“I played really well, obviously putted really well,” said Mickelson, who admitted that he had considered his chances of shooting just the sixth 59 on the PGA Tour.
Photo: EPA
However, with the shadows falling, England’s Brian Davis, bogey-free throughout his round, drained a curling 25-foot putt on his final hole to finish with two consecutive birdies.
The Open champion Mickelson’s hopes of a truly remarkable score were undone by bogeys on the first and last holes of his back nine, although an eagle at the par-five second ensured he did not undo much of his outstanding start.
Mickelson, the world No. 3, was grouped with Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, ranked first and second in the world respectively, and he set the perfect tone with a 19-foot putt for birdie on his opening hole.
The left-hander birdied every hole on the back nine except the par-four 12th and 13th.
However, Mickelson’s round could have unraveled on his final hole, the par-four ninth, where he drove far right into the trees and clambered into the woods where he characteristically managed to blast the ball out to the rough.
From there, he found the green and two-putted for a bogey.
Woods, the FedExCup points leader, mixed four birdies with a bogey for a three-under 68, while Australian Scott (73) had three bogeys and a lone birdie on an ideal morning for low scoring.
The US’ Kevin Stadler (64) was a shot behind the leaders, while Hunter Mahan and Roberto Castro, and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, were a further shot back after carding 65s. Defending Deutsche Bank champion Rory McIlroy and this year’s US Open winner Justin Rose both shot one-under rounds of 70.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
RSS