TUCSON, Ariz. Phil Mickelson waved in the mud after crashing down Tucson National’s 15th hole into a pond. He adjusted his feet for balance and struck with a 9-iron on the highway, and he received applause from playmate Fred Couples.
Another 9 to 4-foot 9-iron and, after wiping his shoes, an unlikely bird.
A bit of Mickelson magic left Lefty looking for history.
Mickelson’s mud bird highlighted a 3-under-70 at the Cologuard Classic on Friday, plunging him into contention for a third consecutive victory to open his career in the PGA Tour.
“I was so hot. I would go in there and play it, no matter what – no matter how high the mud came up, it did not matter,” Mickelson said. “It wasn’t a hard shot. The ball sat well, so I’m going to get in there.”
Mickelson was 4 strokes behind Mike Weir, who had a meager 66 in windy conditions at Tucson National. Scott Verplank pulled out a foot-level for a birdie on a ninth par-4 to close out a 65.
Mickelson is set to become the first player to win his first three PGA Tour events.
Lefty had a relatively stress-free top nine, and he shot 3 down on one of the lanes where he became the last amateur to win the PGA Tour 30 years earlier. He hit his second shot on the eighth hole par 5 on the side of the adjacent no. 3-tee, where Jeff Sluman walked past after stepping down.
“I hit it here just to say hello,” Mickelson said as he got a laugh from Sluman.
Faced with a difficult descent lying in the dormant Bermuda grass, Mickelson hit the ball to about 6 feet and made the point for birdie.
The five-time grand champion had trouble on the back nine and started with a trio on the 11th par-4. Mickelson suffered a double overhaul when he hit outside the bounds on the 13th par-4, and it looks like he’s in trouble when she hits on no. 15 in a pond on the corner of the dogleg roll.
The dam was 237 yards from the tee, so Mickelson thought he could not hit any 5-iron into the wind. As soon as the ball failed in the mud, he immediately went after it.
“I’ll have to have Callaway send me some more shoes because it was new, but it’s not good anymore,” he said.
Mickelson follows with another birdie on the 17th par-5, carves a 3-iron to the front bunker and holds it almost. He finished with a pair on the difficult par-4 18th to shoot even-par 37 on the back nine.
Mickelson won the Ozarks National in Missouri last August in his first start after turning 50 and following on a win at the Country Club in Virginia. Although his main focus was on the PGA Tour, he decided to return to Tucson, where he won three times – first at Tucson National and TPC Starr Pass as a 20-year-old amateur in the state of Arizona.
“I have a little work to do to get the short irons close,” Mickelson said. “If I can do that, I can make a lot of birds here, but it was not the day. I did not score very well today. I have to chase it because these guys make a lot of birds and I I have to try to get past them. stab. ‘
Weir opened with two birdies and followed with seven straight pars. The 2003 Masters champion had five birdies in a seven-hole piece to shoot 5-under 32 on the back nine.
“Overall, it was just solid,” he said. “I made some nice holes. If you shoot 7 down, it’s some close, made some nice holes, also played well.”
Plank had a piece of six birdies in seven holes after starting at nine backs and following eight straight parses with his pulled-out bunker shot.
“I haven’t hit many bunker shots yet, but let’s see what happens and I hit a very good shot,” Verplank said. “But they’re happy when they go in, so I’ll take it.”
Steve Stricker, who also plays both the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour champion, was among a group that finished sixth at 69. He has not played a PGA Tour since September and has a fourth this month. achieved position in the Phoenix Open of the PGA Tournament. He won the 2018 tournament for the first of his five senior titles.