Mickelson (67) not blue on this day
DORAL, Fla. - Since his stirring head-to-head battle with Tiger Woods in 2005, Phil Mickelson has had a roller coaster ride at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa.
There's no problem with the famed "Blue Monster," because "I like the golf course," said the lefthander. Ditto the feel of the resort, because "I like this place a lot."
There was a 72-73 weekend in 2006 that left him tied for 12th at the Ford Championship at Doral, and a year ago Mickelson broke 70 just once as he wound up joint 23d.
Nothing in yesterday's opening round of the CA Championship seemed to indicate he was in store for a positive day, because after driving into the water to make a double bogey at the par-4 third, Mickelson was 1 under and six off the lead. "But I was able to birdie four holes coming in," said Mickelson, who shot 5-under-par 67 to settle into a star-studded logjam tied for fourth, just two off the lead.
"I had a number of opportunities [and] I ended up making some good putts. That gives me some confidence," said Mickelson, whose group includes Woods, Adam Scott, Nick O'Hern, and Anders Hansen.
Up from down under
Those good friends from down under, Geoff Ogilvy (65) and Scott (67), had the only bogey-free rounds and nobody in the field of 79 went without a birdie, though it took Sean O'Hair (73) 17 holes to make his only one . . . There were five eagles - two at the par-5 first (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ross Fisher), one at the par-4 sixth (Jeev Singh holed out from 122 yards), one at the par-5 eighth (Nick Dougherty), and one at the 16th (Andres Romero holed out from 37 yards) . . . It was no contest for low Singh, because despite missing a 3-foot birdie try at the 17th and driving into the water at the 18th, Jeev shot 69 to Vijay's 73 . . . The par 5s on the outward nine, No. 1 at 529 yards (4.418) and No. 8 at 560 (4.443), ranked as the easiest holes, while the toughest holes were the par 3s, the 245-yard 13th (3.405) and fourth (3.342) . . . How easy was the first? No one made worse than par. There were 42 birdies and 37 pars . . . And how difficult was the 13th? No one made a birdie, while 26 made bogey and three made double.Marking his spot
Given that he's teed it up in every PGA Tour event at Doral since 1982 except one - he's here for the 26th time - Mark Calcavecchia didn't feel the need for practice rounds. "I don't know what it played like the first three days," he said. "But I know it was windier up in Palm Beach Gardens where I was playing." Calcavecchia shot 4-under 68 to settle into a share of ninth and confirmed what was clear by the statistics - the 467-yard 18th "will never play any easier." The famed finishing hole had very little bite, as 11 players made birdies and the field average was 4.114 to rank only fifth hardest. It averaged 4.625 to rank as the PGA Tour's toughest hole in 2007.