AKRON, OH – JUNE 30: Phil Mickelson plays a shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club South Course on June 30, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP
Phil Mickelson may be leading the British Open but said he felt like breaking down in tears after being cruelly denied the first ever round of 62 in major championship history on Thursday.
The affable American, who won the 2013 British Open at Muirfield, played flawless golf from beginning to end in the first round at Troon and had a birdie putt at the last to make 62.
Agonizingly, the ball lipped the cup, just refusing to drop. Instead Mickelson had to settle for becoming the 28th player to score 63 in a major, the ninth to do so at The Open.
His round was also a course record, beating the previous best of 64 by Greg Norman in 1989 and Tiger Woods in 1997.
“It was one of the best rounds that I’ve played. I mean, nothing will match that final round at Muirfield, but it was one of the best rounds I’ve ever played and I was able to take advantage of these conditions, and yet I want to shed a tear right now,” said the 46-year-old, who at eight-under leads the field by three strokes.
“That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical. I knew it, and with a foot to go I thought I had done it. I saw that ball rolling right in the centre.
“I went to go get it, I had that surge of adrenaline that I had just shot 62, and then I had the heartbreak that I didn’t and watched that ball lip out.
“It was, wow, that stings.”
Mickelson, who leads from compatriot Patrick Reed and Germany’s Martin Kaymer on five-under, was playing with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els on a glorious day at Troon.
His flawless round featured not a single dropped shot and eight birdies, four on the front nine and four on the back nine.
He birdied the long 16th, after a brilliant shot out of a greenside bunker, and the short 17th, to set up that tantalising attempt at the record.
“This one’s going to stay with me for a while because of the historical element of the major championships. There’s a lot of guys that have shot 63, but nobody has shot that 62. That would have been really something special.
“I just don’t think that’s going to come around again, and that’s why I walk away so disappointed,” added Mickelson, who nevertheless had an explanation for why the putt at the last wouldn’t drop.
“Well, it was obvious right there, there’s a curse because that ball should have been in,” he laughed. “If there wasn’t a curse, that ball would have been in and I would have had that 62.”
Managing expectations
The last player to shoot a 63 at The Open was Rory McIlroy, on the par-72 Old Course at St Andrews in 2010.
The Northern Irishman’s effort that year also came in the first round and gave him a two-stroke lead over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.
In the end McIlroy finished tied for third, eight strokes behind the champion Oosthuizen.
Now Mickelson must manage the expectations around him ahead of the second round on Friday when he is due to go out at 8:25am (0725 GMT) as wet and windy conditions are forecast.
“One of the biggest challenges is when you shoot a round like this, you start expectations running through your head and so forth, and that’s the one thing that I’ll have to try to suppress and hold off,” he said.
“We’ll have three more rounds. We’ll have varying conditions tomorrow. It’s going to be very difficult.
“Hopefully I’ve prepared myself well enough to tackle this golf course under those conditions and shoot a good number tomorrow. A good number might be over par. It just depends on how difficult it is.”