Phil Mickelson in pure Lefty form at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Phil Mickelson continues to amaze fans around the world, and his start to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Thursday was no exception.

Phil Mickelson is still doing some amazing things, and it’s getting to the point where, if you didn’t know better, you’d almost think he was playing a character of himself. He’s dancing for dress shirt commercials, hyping multi-million dollar made-for-streaming dream matches…oh, and he’s contending for big-time PGA TOUR titles, too. Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is just another outstanding example.

Lefty isn’t leading at Bay Hill; that 18-hole honor goes to Rafa Cabrera Bello, who put together a spectacular round of 65 to take a two-shot lead early on. However, Phil is part of a five-way tie for third, just three back of the lead. And as he so often does, he kept things interesting from the start.

Phil actually got off to a bit of a slow start on Thursday. He made a routine par to start on the par-4 1st, but his tee shot on No. 2, a par-3, found a bunker short of the green. Short-game play, especially from bunkers, has long been a trademark of Mickelson’s game, and he blasted out masterfully to about four feet. Unfortunately, his putting let him down, and he skirted the sand save about a foot past, dropping a shot early.

The veteran has a short memory for that type of situation, though, and he got back on track quickly. A magnificent wedge shot from beside the green on the par-5 4th set up a tap-in birdie. That started a streak of three straight red numbers, and a fourth birdie on No. 9 sent Mickelson to the turn in great position at 3-under for the round.

This is where things got a bit dicey, however. Mickelson hit a wayward drive on the par-4 10th that nestled up tight against a netted fence line. Most players would be looking for relief, just taking their medicine in this situation. But that’s not Phil’s style, of course. If you haven’t seen what happened next, you really should.

This shot really has it all. “Lefty” is hitting a shot right-handed with an upside-down club, perhaps somehow believing that his combination of skill, experience and flat-out intestinal fortitude could will the ball to the green? I mean, I know that he’s right handed in everything except golf, but this is the 10th hole on a Thursday, and we break this shot out of the bag?

Also, how about those high kicks back over the fence? It’s not ultra-high or anything, but Phil crosses that one like it’s something he does every day. Come to think of it, he might.

Yeah, I was just looking for an excuse to use that tweet. It had been too long.

As you see, the ball wound up caught in the fence and legitimately winding up out of bounds, which still cost Phil a stroke, and he ended up making double-bogey 6 on that hole. And for many players, that would have taken them out of their proper head space, perhaps taking a still-alright day and turning it upside down. That’s just not Phil Mickelson, though.

Mickelson made three more birdies in his final six holes to finish on quite a roll, including nearly jarring his approach shot on the difficult par-4 18th. While his driving accuracy left plenty to be desired, Mickelson did lead the field in distance off the tee. More importantly, he was rock solid with irons and wedges in his hands, ranking 12th in strokes gained on approach, and ninth in strokes gained around the green.

Even with that double on his card, Phil Mickelson was just one or two putts dropping from being in sole possession of second place. Look for him to remain in contention at Arnie’s place, where he’s making his first start since shooting 73-79 to miss the cut in 2013. Hey, sometimes six years makes all the difference.