6:45 p.m. Troon time; 10:45 a.m. GGMT
Jason Day, plus-2. Jordan Spieth, level par. Dustin Johnson, level par. Rory McIlroy, minus-2.
Phil Mickelson … not much in the conversation. Until his bogey-free, course-record 63 Thursday at Royal Troon put his name on every tongue, and it could have been a 62 as his 16-footer for a final birdie lipped out. The number would have been the low number for any major championship in history.
There’s a long way to go and lots of weather surely blowing in to Royal Troon, but Mickelson’s 8-under-par performance is hands-down the first-day story. He’s closed the deal in The Open before, but we’ll see what we hear from other precincts in the second round.
Today, the left-handed one stayed out of pot bunkers. That was more than good enough.
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