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No practice makes perfect for self-assured Mickelson

Phil Mickelson enjoyed an impressive round on Thursday, despite a very late arrival © AP

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Practice rounds are overrated.

That's the (not entirely logical) conclusion that presumably must be taken from Thursday's opening round at the US Open, on a day where it initially looked like golfers would have to play second fiddle to whatever the weather decided to do.

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Phil Mickelson, flying in to Philadelphia overnight and getting to Merion just 90 minutes before his 7.11am tee-time, shot 67 to take the early clubhouse lead in the 113th iteration of the tournament.

His playing partner, Keegan Bradley, has been at the course all week and spent as much as ten minutes on each green on Wednesday, attempting to work out the East Course's many subtleties. He shot 77.

So much for needing to learn the layout, then.

When he won the US Open here in 1971, Lee Trevino famously remarked, "I love Merion, and I don't even know her last name." Mickelson barely had time to even ask for her first name on Thursday. After he flew in (by private jet) in the early hours of the day, he arrived at the course with only just enough time to hit some balls on the range - and next to no time to reacquaint himself with the speed of the putting surfaces.

Shaking hands with Bradley and the third member of their group, Steve Stricker, the four-time major champion (but no-time US Open champion) proceeded to bogey his opening hole of the day, the 11th, after a three-putt.

"I didn't think [the greens] were quite as fast," Mickelson noted. "But from then on, knowing that it was the same pace as what I had been practising on, my touch was very good."

Suddenly, the media centre perked up (well, as much as any group can collectively 'perk up' before half seven in the morning), with critics preparing their laptops to lambast the 42-year-old for sabotaging his US Open chances for something as trivial as his daughter's high school graduation (how could he!).

But then Mickelson birdied the short 13th to get back to level-par, and reeled off five successive pars on the hardest stretch of holes on the course to put himself in great position heading into the front nine.

"This is my favourite US Open setup ever," Mickelson was overheard telling USGA executive director Mike Davis as he left the 18th green to move on to the first tee, showing no visible signs of tiredness.

"I might have used just a little caffeine booster at the turn," he later admitted, "just to keep me sharp, but that was our ninth hole or so and I just wanted to make sure I had enough energy."

Mickelson moved under-par for the first time in the tournament with a snaking birdie putt at the first and then, after a series of miraculous escapes to save pars in between, found another at the short par-four seventh to take the lead outright at two-under.

A third birdie, the result of a curling 25-footer at the 237-yard ninth, set him up to finish on his own at three-under.

Poor morning weather could not derail Mickelson's start © AP

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"Pretty good," was Mickelson's overall assessment. "Good start."

Ben Hogan famously did not carry a seven-iron at this venue and in this event back in 1950 - substituting it for a one-iron, a move we all know paid off handsomely. When asked why he had made such an unusual move, 'The Hawk' replied simply: "Because there are no seven-iron shots at Merion."

Mickelson has seemingly taken Hogan's approach to heart, dispensing with his driver and carrying five wedges as he departed the airport on Thursday morning.

His longest club, a slightly-modified three-wood (but not the Phrankenwood that failed to quite work at the Masters), can still be hit over 280 yards, with Mickelson confident that gives him the best setup to navigate the course.

His fifth wedge is a 64-degree lofted number, with the American figuring out that it gives him a few more options around the putting surfaces, particularly from the very thick rough that borders almost all of them.

On Thursday Mickelson still averaged over 310 yards off the tee, and got up-and-down from some absurd spots.

"I felt like there were potentially two holes that I might hit driver, five and six," he said. "I can't hit it on most of the holes.

"And I felt a 64-degree wedge, with what some of the conditions would be, would allow me to save a stroke here or there more so than an extra 20 yards on two holes."

Mickelson, who has a late tee time on Friday, will now rest and recuperate ahead of the rest of the tournament. The left-hander has made no secret of his strong desire to win his national championship, having come so close on previous occasions.

His unusual build-up to his opening round perhaps enabled him to avoid over-analysing the importance of the event - allowing him to play with more freedom than some of his rivals.

As playing partner Bradley noted: "He has had a crazy last 24 hours. Sometimes that helps, not thinking about it."

Now, however, he faces a lengthy period to dwell on a good start - and the extra pressure, both self-applied and from the wider public, that might bring.

After all, Mickelson happily admits a victory in this tournament, the remaining one he wants above all others, would change his outlook on it entirely.

"If I'm able to ultimately win a US Open, I would say my relationship with the event is great," he assessed. "Because I will have had a win and five seconds.

"But if I never get that win, then it would be a bit heart-breaking."

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