2021 Rocket Mortgage: Phil Mickelson Has Un-Phil-Like Day
By Tim Letcher
Phil Mickelson is known to have some wild rounds at times on the PGA Tour. However, Thursday’s round at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic was far from that for Lefty.
Mickelson has always been one to take chances, sometimes to his benefit, sometimes to his demise. Everyone remembers Phil hitting driver on the 72nd hole at the 2006 U.S. Open, when he probably would have fared better hitting less club.
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On Thursday at Detroit Golf Club, Mickelson was far from that Lefty. Playing the back nine first, Mickelson opened with a par on the par-4 10th hole. On the par-3 11th, Mickelson hit his tee shot to the fringe but couldn’t get up-and-down for par, settling for a bogey. It would be his only bogey of the day.
Mickelson would par the next five holes to stay at 1-over par. He got back to even par on the par-5 17th hole, where he just missed an eagle. He would par the 18th hole to finish his first nine with an even-par 36.
On the back nine, Mickelson was able to get some things going in the right direction.
However, it didn’t start right away. Mickelson actually parred the first five holes on his second nine to stay at even par (when is the last time Mickelson had a round with two stretches of five straight pars?).
On the par-4 sixth hole, Mickelson drove his ball into the rough. However, he recovered nicely, as his approach shot landed about four feet from the cup. He made the putt to get into red figures for the first time all day.
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That birdie seemed to lift Mickelson a bit. On the par-5 seventh, Mickelson pulled his drive right and into what seemed to be trouble. But his second shot got him just left of the green. He got up-and-down for his second straight birdie.
Mickelson then birdied the eighth hole to get to 3-under on his round. And that’s where he would finish, as he shot a 69 on the day. But the real story might have been the 13 pars that Mickelson made on this day.