Opening round: Phil Mickelson displays poor show in Arnold Palmer Invitational
Phil Mickelson, who was surrounded by tough competitors, displayed a mediocre performance in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.
The 41-year-old American professional golf player was unable to score well. He scored 1-over 73 and was seven strokes behind the leading position.
He bogeyed the very first hole and further dropped to the lowest on the leaderboard after carding a double-bogey on the third hole.
Later on, he somehow improved his driving and recorded four birdies on the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th holes.
After two loose shots, the 40-time PGA Tour winner did a fine job, but again lost his focus and carded another double-bogey on the final 18th hole of the first round.
He realised his mediocre performance and said, "You can make mistakes, you can make some loose swings and so I feel very relaxed".
"But if I can get some good ball-striking and some good momentum from these couple of tournaments, like I did in 2006, I think it would be a much easier route and a better route to try to capture a fourth green jacket," he added.
Charlie Wi and Jason Dufner shared the first position on the leaderboard. They played tremendously and scored 6-under 66.
Their first round scores were supported by several birdies and only one bogey was scored by both.
Mickelson was also impressive while scoring long birdies, but his poor performance on three holes took him down.
“It was important to get a few birdies to get it back to close to par because if I can come out tomorrow and get a hot round, I can get right back in it for the weekend,” Mickelson said.
Apart from this tournament, the four-time major winner has been the hottest contender since January. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and competed well in many other events.
He faced a defeat in playoffs, at the Northern Trust Open in February. His scoring average, putting and driving distance are considered good.
Now, the American has ample chances to score well from Friday onwards at Bay Hill Club & Lodge.
The upcoming three rounds can go in his favour if he continues his winning performance, as he displayed in the last two months.
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