Tiger, McIlroy scorch BMW with first-round 62s

Click here to read the full article…

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson started his first event of 2019 with the lowest score of his PGA TOUR career. He ended it with a disappointing defeat, losing a two-shot lead in the final round of the Desert Classic. Mickelson followed Thursday’s 60 at La Quinta Country Club with rounds of 66 and 68 to post the second-lowest 54-hole score of his career. He started the final round two shots ahead of Adam Hadwin and three ahead of Adam Long. Long made a 14-foot birdie putt on 18 to beat Mickelson (69) and Hadwin (67) by one shot. Long’s Sunday 65 included chip-ins on the 12th and 15th holes. He finished at 26-under 262 (63-71-63-65). Mickelson has now failed to convert six of his last seven 54-hole leads. This was the second consecutive time he lost a two-shot lead entering the final round. The other came at the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This was Mickelson’s first official TOUR event since the Safeway Open in October and his first competitive round since his match with Tiger Woods. In spite of his low scores, he said that he was rusty at the start of the week. His lack of recent competition may have contributed to Sunday’s struggles, as well. “It’s a weird game how sometimes if you haven’t played for awhile it just can click and come right back,� Mickelson said. “But usually you need a little bit of a foundation there coming down the stretch. When you get to feel the pressure, you need to have that foundation of practice and seeing the shots that you want to hit, seeing the ball go in on the greens. I didn’t really have that today.� Mickelson was trailing by two when the final group reached the 10th tee. He bogeyed the par-4 ninth after driving into the water and Hadwin birdied the hole. Mickelson made back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 to tie Hadwin and Long atop the leaderboard, though. He made birdie after missing a 10-foot eagle putt. Mickelson narrowly missed lengthy birdie putts on the final two holes, as well. The long putts weren’t the problems, though. “It was the short (putts). It was the short putts that I really turned around these last few years and today I just struggled,� Mickelson said. He lost 3.2 strokes on the greens Sunday. He missed a 4-foot putt to three-putt the first hole and also missed two putts from 5-7 feet. “I had a terrible putting day, one of the worst I can recall in a while,� he said. “It started right on the first hole. … I felt awful with the putter. I hit a lot of good shots today, though, but just couldn’t get the ball to go in the hole.� Mickelson, 48, said earlier in the week that swing speed and putting are the two skills that see decline at his age. He led the field in driving distance (302.5 yards on all tee shots) but finished 64th (out of 73 players) in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Click here to read the full article…

Phil Mickelson increased his fall schedule in order to audition for one of Tiger Woods’ captain’s picks. Mickelson doesn’t expect to add Australia to his itinerary after poor finishes in his first two starts of the season, though. “Even if I were to win, I have not done enough to warrant a pick,� Mickelson said Wednesday in his pre-tournament press conference for THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES. “I’m not asking for one. I don’t expect one. I think there’s a lot better options for the U.S. side.� RELATED: Meet the top 8: U.S. team | Three Presidents Cup vets start the fall on the outside looking in Mickelson, 49, has represented the United States in every team competition since the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994. That streak appears to be nearing its conclusion. Mickelson finished 16th in the United States’ points standings. The top eight after the BMW Championship earned automatic spots on the team. Mickelson is playing in South Korea for the first time since the United States’ win at the 2015 Presidents Cup, where he went 3-0-1. Mickelson has never competed on The Club at Nine Bridges, but he’s enjoyed what he’s seen. He played a practice round with Kevin Na to learn more about the course. “What I like is there is plenty of room off the tee for me to play,� Mickelson said. “(The greens) are huge but with a lot of undulation. … Iron play, which is my strength, is very important.� Mickelson is making his third start of the season. He missed the cut at the Safeway Open and finished 61st at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. His season debut was marred by a quadruple-bogey 9 on his fifth hole. He missed the cut by two after shooting a second-round 69. Mickelson opened the Shriners with a first-round 65, but was just 3 under in the remaining three rounds. He finished 47th in last season’s FedExCup, marking the fourth time in the last six seasons that he missed the TOUR Championship. It was his worst FedExCup showing since 2015. Mickelson started the calendar year with a first-round 60 at the Desert Classic. He finished second to Adam Long, then won two starts later at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Mickelson has had just one top-25 finish since, though. Mickelson, ever the optimist, still feels like he can play well in 2020. He turns 50 in June. “I am starting to play much better and I’m excited about this upcoming season,� he said.

Click here to read the full article…