Phil Mickelson fires 63 to claim three-shot lead in The Open at Royal Troon
Friday 15 July 2016 08:04, UK
Phil Mickelson narrowly missed out on becoming the first man in history to shoot 62 at a major championship as he stormed into a three-shot lead after the first round of The 145th Open at Royal Troon.
Mickelson rolled in eight birdie putts in a flawless opener in near-perfect conditions at the Ayrshire links, but his 15-footer for a record-breaking round at the last did not catch enough of the lip to drop.
The 2013 champion, who was fourth the last time The Open was held at Troon in 2004, had to settle for a 63, which comfortably surpassed the earlier 66 of Patrick Reed, while Martin Kaymer also kept a bogey off his card as he joined Reed in a share of second place late in the day.
Defending champion Zach Johnson is among a group of eight players on four under, although he bogeyed the final two holes to take the gloss off an excellent day, while Justin Rose (68) and Rory McIlroy (69) both enjoyed encouraging starts.
But the world's top players were left trailing in Mickelson's wake as the veteran birdied the second, fourth, sixth and eighth to cruise to the turn in 32, and he added another at the 10th before further gains at 14, 16 and 17 lifted him clear of the chasing pack.
Reed had held the clubhouse lead after carding five birdies and a superb eagle at the third, where he holed out from the fairway for a spectacular two, while Kaymer followed a cautious start with three consecutive birdies from the sixth and the German picked up further shots at 10 and 16 in a solid inward half.
Justin Thomas birdied the opening four holes but could not improve on four under, while Steve Stricker further strengthened the American presence at the top of the leaderboard when he birdied three of the last five holes to return a 67.
American players have won the last six Opens played at Royal Troon, and eight US stars were in the top 11 players at the end of day one, with Kaymer, England's Andy Sullivan and veteran Dane Soren Kjeldsen bucking the trend.
Sullivan and Rose were among only a handful of players to break par on the tougher back-nine, both coming home in 33, while Johnson looked on course to be Mickelson's closest challenger when he rolled in his sixth birdie putt of the day at the 16th before his mistakes at the final two holes dropped him back into the pack.
Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia matched Rose's 68, while McIlroy's round came undone when he slipped from four under to one under when he followed a double-bogey at the 13th with a poor tee shot to the short 14th which cost him another stroke.
He hit back to birdie the 15th and parred safely in, while Jordan Spieth and Jason Day have much work to do to get back into contention after disappointing rounds of 71 and 73 respectively.
Spieth suffered a rare off-day on the greens and needed 33 putts to get round, while world No 1 Day struggled to control his irons and ended the round 10 shots off the lead.
In-form Dustin Johnson also failed to take advantage of the conditions, offsetting a pair of birdies with bogeys at the first and 16th as he missed a series of chances in his 71.
Colin Montgomerie had the honour of hitting the first opening tee shot to be screened live in Open history, and he recovered from a double-bogey six at the last to post a 71, while shot of the day went to 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen, who made his third hole in one in a major championship with his perfect strike at the short 14th.
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