THE OPEN: Mickelson makes hay while the sun shines

BY BRENDAN JAMES at ROYAL TROON

THE Golfing Gods smiled on Phil Mickelson for the first 17 holes of the 145^th Open Championship.

Under beautiful warm blue skies and very little wind, the left-hander ripped around the tough Royal Troon layout to arrive at the 18^th tee with eight birdies and no bogies on his scorecard.

But those same Gods then conspired to keep golfing immortality out of his grasp.

The 46-year-old seemed poised to do what no other golfer had done in a major championship by shooting 62 in an 18-hole round. He found the sanctuary of the fairway with his tee shot and caressed a beautiful iron approach onto the green, before accepting the rousing welcome of the fans lining the 18^th hole.

It's in ... Phil Mickelson watches his putt for 62 edge closer to the hole.
PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

A little more than five metres stood between the American and achieving major golf’s Holy Grail.

When he struck the putt it looked good … very good. Less than a metre from the cup, Mickelson began to raise his putter in triumph. The ball slowed and was almost dawdling when it caught the edge of the hole and, seemingly defied gravity as it lipped out to finish directly behind the cup. Golf is indeed a cruel game.

"How did that miss?"
PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

He tapped in for a 63 and a first round three-shot lead over fellow American Patrick Reed and Germany’s Martin Kaymer, but the moment left Mickelson with mixed emotions.

“I played one of the best rounds of my life but I feel like crying,” he said. “All these highlights and I feel like crying.

“I don’t know how that putt stayed out. I want to shed a tear right now. That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical. I knew it and with a foot to go I thought I had done it. I saw that ball rolling right in the centre. I went to go get it, I had that surge of adrenalin that I had just shot 62 and then I had the heartbreak that I didn’t and watched that ball lip out. It was, ‘wow, that stings’.

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD | VIDEO: ROUND ONE HIGHLIGHTS

“The opportunity to shoot 62 and be the first one to do it, I just don’t think that’s going to come around again. That’s why I walk away so disappointed.

“If I had just hit a weak flail-off, the putt never had a chance and I left it short, so be it. But this ball was hunting right in the centre and didn’t go. It was just heartbreaking.”

He may have wanted to cry for the one that got away, but he was still smiling at the fact he leads the Open and had just shot 63 – only the 27^th time it has happened in a major and only the ninth time in an Open Championship. It also beats the Troon course record of 64 set by Greg Norman in 1989 and equaled by Tiger Woods in 1997.

To date, Mickelson has played 81 rounds at The Open in his career and only three of them have been bogey-free. Mickelson knows he has to be wary heading into the next few days to keep any blemishes off his scorecard.

“One of the biggest challenges is, when you shoot a round like this, expectations running through your head,” the five-time major champion said. “That’s the one thing that I’ll have to try to suppress and hold off. We’ll have three more rounds. We’ll have varying conditions tomorrow. It’s going to be very difficult.

Mickelson blasts out of a bunker to set up another birdie at the par-5 16th.
PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

“Changing conditions, we'll have different winds. Hopefully I've prepared myself well enough to tackle this golf course under those conditions and shoot a good number tomorrow. A good number might be over par. It just depends on how difficult it is. But today under these conditions I was able to take advantage of it.”

Playing partner Ernie Els had a front row seat to one of the great major championship rounds and was full of praise for Mickelson.

“It was beautiful. He managed himself so beautifully, you know,” Els said. “He made a lot of nice putts. But the way he played out there today, it's amazing he's only won one Open Championship.

“It was beautifully played. He was in total control of the ball. He didn't miss too many, and just managed himself so well. Just a pity he didn't … I don't know how that putt didn't go in on 18. That would have been something. That was a great, great round.”

Most of the players in pursuit of Mickelson are hoping the heavy rain and gusty winds predicted over the next few days play havoc with the left-hander but he seems in total control at this early stage of the tournament.