Phil Mickelson adamant he can still be competitive at the highest level
"I believe it is really possible, and that's a fun challenge for me to try to attain."
Thursday 30 January 2020 17:27, UK
Phil Mickelson might be approaching eligibility for senior golf, but he intends to remain competitive on the main Tours for as long as he can as he reflected on his entertaining first round at the Saudi International.
Mickelson confirmed late last year that he had opted to travel to Saudi Arabia and miss out on the Phoenix Open for the first time in 30 years, although an early return home looked a possibility when he double-bogeyed the second hole.
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The five-time major champion offset a birdie at four with a bogey at five and did the same on the last two holes of the front nine as he turned in two over, but he was at his exhilarating best on the inward run and recorded his first-ever nine-hole score of 29 in a European Tour event.
Mickelson followed a birdie at 10 with the shot of the day at the short 11th, his arrow-straight tee shot clipping the flag and setting up a tap-in for a two, and he also birdied four of the next five holes around another blemish at the 13th.
He pulled his drive at 17 so far left he was forced to smash a provisional, but he located his first ball in the sandy waste area and, after clipping a trademark wedge to 12 feet, he narrowly missed the target with the putt and settled for his only par of the back-nine.
His ninth birdie of the day at the last was scarcely in doubt, and Mickelson reflected on a job well done after signing for a 66 which left him just two shots behind joint-leaders Gavin Green and Graeme McDowell, who played alongside Mickelson and declared: "It was Phil The Thrill out there, and it was fun to watch".
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"It was a rough first nine," said Mickelson in an abrupt summary of his first nine holes. "Part of the challenge for me is I feel like I've been playing well but mentally I haven't been as sharp.
"I haven't been visualising and I haven't been seeing the shot clear. That was certainly evident early in the round where I made a couple of shots that weren't that hard that I made difficult.
"But the back nine, things really started to come together. I hit a lot of good shots. I started making the putts, and made a lot of birdies, and it was just a good back nine that gave me a good chance heading into tomorrow.
"I feel like my game is a lot sharper than I've been scoring, so it was nice having that back nine," added Mickelson, who turns 50 in June but has been working hard on his health and fitness over the last year in a bid to extend his career on the PGA and European Tours.
"The older I get, the more I appreciate what I do for a living," he added. "I love the challenge to continue to play golf at the highest level because I believe it is really possible.
"My belief is if you take care of yourself, work out properly, eat well, physically recover and do the right things at night, then you can continue to play at a very high level and that's a fun challenge for me to try to attain."
