The Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, St. Jude Classic

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Playing for the first time in a month, Phil Mickelson shot a 2-under 68 in the opening round of the St. Jude Classic.

Jun. 25, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- Returning to work for the first time since disclosing last month that his wife has breast cancer, Phil Mickelson made a solid 2-under 68 to be four shots behind leader Brian Gay in the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx on Thursday.

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First-round highlights
Shot of the Day
PGA TOUR Today

He wore a pink ribbon stitched into the side of his white cap and at times looked fatigued, but he wasted no time firing up fans with birdies on the opening two holes. Then came a sliced tee shot into the water and a nearly four-putt green. He birdied two of the last three holes.

A typical round for one of golf's most unpredictable stars.

Jose Maria Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion recently elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, was the day's surprise. Still coping with arthritis pain, the Spaniard shot a 66 to finish in a group that included Rich Beem and Graeme McDowell.

Under heavy clouds that brought brief showers midway through his round, Mickelson was easy to spot because of about 750 fans following him -- one man dressed all in pink.

John Daly's comeback was for vastly different reasons, and the result not quite the same. He played on the PGA TOUR for the first time since last October. Daly opened with eight straight pars and a birdie, but his putter failed him miserably. He followed with three straight bogeys for a 72.

"Probably the worst I've putted in five years," Daly said, wearing a neon-green shirt that matched his argyle pants of green and yellow.

He offered little in how it felt to be playing before fans near his hometown in Arkansas, who followed him around the TPC Southwind and were treated to a round with few highlights, good or bad.

Gay has narrowly missed out on qualifying for the first two majors, although he has one chance left. Having won at Hilton Head last month, a victory this week would get him into the U.S. Open. He led by one shot over Jimmy Walker.

Mickelson openly shared his emotions and fears before the tournament. He was more guarded after his round on Thursday, sticking mainly to his golf and the tropical vacation after the U.S. Open a week before Amy has surgery and begins treatment.

"It wasn't a great round, but it was a good start," Mickelson said. "It was fun to play a little bit."

He was particularly pleased with his group -- three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and Cameron Beckman. They chatted between shots, although his talk with Harrington before the round might have been the most meaningful.

Harrington won his first two TOUR events in 2005 while his father battled cancer. He missed the British Open that summer when his father died.

"I know when my dad had cancer, the easiest time was on the golf course because you don't have to answer any questions," Harrington said. "You don't have to explain yourself on the golf course. You've got to remember -- we're quite proficient at dealing with that little white golf ball, not quite as good about explaining our emotions."

Mickelson could not have scripted a better start to his round, opening with an approach to 5 feet for birdie and holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the next hole, the par-3 11th.

Asked if it felt like a typical round, he replied, "Once we got going."

"I felt a little rusty, but I made a couple of birdies early, and that made it more relaxed," he said.

Olazabal played four rounds at the Memorial, failed to make it through 36-hole U.S. Open qualifying on Monday and still hurts from injuries that have limited his play in recent years. He sure wasn't expecting a 66, or his name atop the leaderboard.

"But that's the game of golf," he said. "I played pretty solid today and managed to score well. I have to say that the greens were a little soft after the rain, and I think that helped a little bit."

Jerry Kelly and Richard S. Johnson were among those at 67, an important start because a victory by either would be a second over the last calendar year, earning a spot in the U.S. Open.

Other notables at the St. Jude Classic

Name	Score	Position	Comment	Friday tee time (ET)
Jose Maria Olazabal	4 under	T3	Playing for just the fourth time on the PGA TOUR this season, Olazabal was bogey-free and had four birdies in one of his better rounds this year.	1:54 p.m.
Rich Beem	4 under	T3	Beem has missed 5 of his last 6 cuts but looks like he'll be around for the weekend after hitting nearly every green in regulation.	8 a.m.
Phil Mickelson	2 under	T19	It was an up-and-down day for Mickelson as he had six birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey in a round of 68.	1:27 p.m.
Camilo Villegas	2 under	T19	It's been a quiet few months for Villegas, but he put himself in good position with just one bogey Thursday.	1:36 p.m.
Justin Leonard	6 over	T149	The defending champion got off to a rocky start with bogeys on his first six holes and hit just 39 percent of his greens in regulation.	1:36 p.m.

Thursday's Best

EASIEST HOLE	TOUGHEST HOLE
The par-5 16th hole was the easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.583. EAGLES: 2 BIRDIES: 73 PARS: 69 BOGEYS: 12 OTHERS: 0	The par-4 17th hole was the toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.372. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 7 PARS: 88 BOGEYS: 57 OTHERS: 4

SHOT OF THE DAY	ROUND OF THE DAY
Bob Estes bombed in a 52-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th hole, helping him salvage a round of 1-under 69. Watch his shot	Brian Gay had seven birdies and just one bogey in what was the lowest score of the opening round. Check out his scorecard

INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brett Wright offers these observations from Thursday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.

TPC Southwind lowered its guard in the morning, but as the early leaders wound their way through the treacherous back nine, bogeys became common, especially at the par-3 14th hole and the two par-4 finishing holes.

The rough is very wiry and thick throughout the course. Boo Weekley hit a shot out of the rough at No. 9 and ended up making bogey after playing his second shot well out to the right, away from the hazard. I was walking beside him after the hole and asked if the lie in the rough was bad. "It was too squirrely to hit it out over the water," he said. When a player of Weekley's caliber is playing around a pond from 155 yards, you know he has respect for the thick stuff.

Look at the leaderboard and circle the players from Europe and Australia and watch for many of them to stay in contention throughout the week. Players like Jose Maria Olazabal, Mathias Gronberg, Graeme McDowell, Fredrik Jacobson and Robert Allenby all thrive in conditions like we are seeing this week: gusting wind, shallow landing areas on the greens, hazards that lurk close to the hole locations and closely mown collection areas around the greens that give the players more than one option when chipping. Look for a player who can control their distance in the gusting wind. Look for players that know to miss on the long side. As these greens and fairways dry out in the wind, the emphasis will increase to control distance even more.

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-3, 239-yard 14th at TPC Southwind
LAST YEAR: The 14th played to a stroke average of 3.265, with players recording 36 birdies, 291 pars, 99 bogeys, 25 double bogeys and 2 others.
DESCRIPTION: This hole requires a long iron or wood tee shot. An elevated tee and a full carry over water to a severely undulated green is hard enough, but it's also protected by water on its entire right side. In short, it's a very difficult par 3 set among a natural amphitheater. (Click here for tour)

This week at the Kodak Challenge hole

Round-by-round statistics on the par-3 14th at TPC Southwind