The Loop
Today in Phil Mickelson doing Phil Mickelson things: A birdie from the trees
Compared to the show Phil Mickelson put on during the first round last week at Torrey Pines, Thursday's opening round at TPC Scottsdale was pretty tame. Then again, Mickelson has only played nine holes so far.
In a span of less than an hour last week, Mickelson purposely putted off the green to set up a birdie and then saved par with one of the most ridiculous flop shots you'll ever see:
And it didn't take Phil Mickelson long to get back to doing Phil Mickelson things in his next start. On the eighth hole of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson missed the fairway left off the tee, leaving him to navigate a big tree from the rough for his approach shot:
Ho-hum. And moments later, he did this:
Of course.
For good measure, Mickelson also made a 40-footer for birdie on the ninth hole to make the turn at three under par. Not that we should be surprised. As he pointed out in his pre-tournament press conference when asked about playing alongside Justin Thomas and Adam Hadwin -- two players who have shot 59s on the PGA Tour while Phil hasn't -- he's won this tournament three times.