Phil Mickelson made one of his trademark charges up the leaderboard at the Open Championship on Thursday, grabbing the first-day lead and a share of the record for the best score in a major championship.
Aided by birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 17 on Royal Troon’s tricky back nine, the 46-year-old American posted an eigth-under par 63, equalling the record low score for majors first set by Johnny Miller in the 1973 US Open, and equalled by only handful of players since then.
The mercurial left-hander came within a fraction of an inch of breaking the record, when his curling 15-foot putt for birdie on the 18th hole circled the hole before settling just outside it. It was still good enough for a bogey-free round and a three-shot lead ahead of compatriot Patrick Reed and Germany’s Martin Kaymer, with a host of players a stroke further adrift on four-under.
Reed’s early 66, punctuated by an eagle from the fairway on the par-four third, set the clubhouse lead for much of the day. A raft of players threatened, but fell back throughout the day, with four-under becoming a bar that was hard to get past.
Rory McIlroy made a run late on the front nine, making three birdies in a row, but a double-bogeyed the 13th to drop back from four under. Bubba Watson’s fall from grace was even harder, with the left hander leading the championship on five under until he triple-bogeyed the short eighth, the 120-yard Postage Stamp, which was playing at its most benign.
Reed’s eagle showed early on that it was possible to make giant strides up the leaderboard, and former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen emphasised the point when he aced the 14th hole to help him finish with a 71.
The day began with Troon’s home town hero Colin Montgomerie hitting the opening drive, his first appearance at the Open in six years and what may well be his last. He carded a double-bogey on the first hole, after finding one of Troon’s deep greenside bunkers, but he took one shot back with a birdie on the third and another on the fourth. The Scot narrowly missed a third straight birdie on the fifth, then went ahead and made one on the sixth. On the Postage Stamp, his tee shot landed within six feet of the pin. He made that birdie and added a fifth on the ninth, meaning as he finished his front nine, Montgomerie was tied for the lead on three-under. He fared less well on the back nine, but still finished at even par.
But the first day of the 145th Open Championship belonged to another old-timer, 46-year-old Phil Mickelson, the champion of 2013, who seems to have that look in his eye again, as well as a big smile on his face.
OPEN LEADERBOARD: -8 P Mickelson; -5 P Reed, M Kaymer; -4 J Thomas, S Stricker, B Horschel, T Finau, S Kjeldsen, A Sullivan, Z Johnson , K Bradley
Selected scores: -3 J Rose, S Garcia; -2 J Donaldson, R Fowler, R McIlroy ; -1 B Watson; Level C Montgomerie, D Clarke, J Spieth, D Willett, L Westwood, D Johnson; +2 J Day