With a bunker hole-out, Phil Mickelson had a 'lot of fun' during first round of 2025 Open
Having missed the cut at all three majors so far this year, the captain of LIV Golf's High Flyers was pleased to have beaten most of the rain that began to fall early in the afternoon and to be in the clubhouse in red figures.
'I really enjoy playing these conditions and playing this tournament. It's just a lot of fun,' he said. 'I really hit a lot of good shots today, and it wasn't too stressful.'
Phil Mickelson has struggled at recent Opens
Mickelson, 55, is the 2013 champion at Muirfield, one of his six majors he's won, tabbed winning the Claret Jug as his greatest accomplishment in his career.
'Because I had to learn a style of golf that I didn't grow up playing,' he explained. 'It's kind of the greatest source of pride for me as a player to overcome those obstacles. Now I've come to really love it, enjoy it, and I seem to play well in some of the adverse conditions too.'
But Mickelson, who nearly won a second Open title in 2016 when he lost a duel with Henrik Stenson, has struggled on this side of the pond in recent years. He's missed the cut in five of the last seven years, and finished T-60th at the 2024 Open Championship.
Bunker shot was a highlight for Mickelson
Mickelson did have one truly highlight-reel moment. At the third hole, his approach caught the greenside bunker and he left his first shot in the bunker. In danger of making a big number, Mickelson proved he still is a magician with a wedge in his hand. On his second attempt, he splashed out and holed the shot for another routine par.
'That was a crazy one. It was really one of maybe two poor shots I hit, I felt. That bunker shot buried in the lip, and then to make it, it was obviously a lot of luck. It was crazy,' he said. 'I was just trying to save bogey, and I got lucky and it went in.'
Mickelson tacked on a birdie at the par-5 seventh and toured the first nine in 34. He made his first bogey of the championship at No. 11 and another at No. 14, but added a birdie at 17 to get in at 1 under. Playing in his 31st Open Championship, Mickelson relied on years of knowledge and avoided pressing when the longer birdie putts weren't dropping.
'I made a lot of short ones and a lot of good up-and-downs and lag putting,' he said. 'You find that going back on past experience, you don't have to press it. You don't have to force it.'
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