Phil Mickelson has missed out on the prestige of finishing a round in 59 shots by the faintest of margins at the Phoenix Open on Thursday. The four-time major winner had a 25-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole at TPC Scottsdale to become the sixth man to go lower than 60 at a PGA Tour event. But despite preparing to celebrate as he followed his ball towards the hole, Mickelson was left shattered as his putt lipped the cup to deny him the feat, leaving him with an 11-under 60. It is not often a professional golfer goes 11 under the card and walks away disappointed, but that is exactly what Mickelson was despite holding a four-shot lead heading into Friday&aposs play. “Six feet to go, it was (going) in the centre (of the hole),” Mickelson said. “Three feet to go, it was in the centre. A foot to go, it was in the centre, and even as it&aposs approaching the hole, I couldn&apost envision which side of the hole it could possibly miss on, and it ended up somehow just dying off at the end, catching the lip. “At that speed, to lip out as much as it did is very rare. “I&aposm excited to shoot 60, but to see that last putt lip out the way it did and not go in, it&aposs crushing because you don&apost get that chance very often to shoot 59.” Mickelson must overcome his disappointment of missing out on a 59 by holding onto his lead over the next 54 holes. The in-form Brandt Snedeker is among the chasing pack on seven-under par, tied for second spot with fellow Americans Ryan Palmer, Ted Potter Jr, Jeff Maggert and Irishman Padraig Harrington. There were a few left stranded prior to finishing their 18 holes when darkness stopped play, including John Mallinger (through 15) and John Rollins (through 13) who are tied for seventh spot with another nine players on six under. Among the nine are Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, South Korean YE Yang and American Nick Watney. Defending champion Kyle Stanley still had two holes to play when his day ended, with his scorecard reading two under – level with 2007 champion, Australia&aposs Aaron Baddeley. Baddeley was among the best-performed Australians on the day, with Greg Chalmers outdoing him on three under, while Marc Leishman shot a one-under par 70. Jason Day is also at one under, level with Alastair Presnell, who has five holes to play in his opening round. Geoff Ogilvy had a day to forget, though, carding four bogeys and one birdie to be three-over par.
Author: Omnisport