Phil Mickelson turned the clock back three years in the first round of the 145th Open Championship.
The 46-year-old Mickelson, whose last victory came in the 2013 Open at Muirfield, became the 26th player to shoot 63 in a major championship to take a three-stroke lead over Patrick Reed and Martin Kaymer of Germany at Royal Troon Golf Club in South Ayrshire, Scotland..
Lefty lipped out an 18-foot birdie putt on the last hole that would have given him the record by himself.
“This one’s going to stay with me for a while because of the historical element of the major championships,” said Mickelson, who had four birdies on each nine in his bogey-free round of 8-under-par. “There’s a lot of guys that have shot 63, but nobody has shot that 62. That would have been really something special.
“I’m just not going to have opportunities like that to do that. So to have that putt lip out, that’s going to sting for a while. … It was obvious right there, there’s a curse because that ball should have been in. If there wasn’t a curse, that ball would have been in and I would have had that 62.”
Reed eagled the second hole and played the front nine in 5-under 31 en route to his 66, while Kaymer matched that with a bogey-free round that included three straight birdies through the eighth hole.
Defending championship Zach Johnson was alone in second before carding bogeys on the last two holes to shoot 67 and was tied for fourth with Justin Thomas, Steve Stricker,
Billy Horschel, Tony Finau, Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark, Keegan Bradley and Andy Sullivan of England.
Justin Rose of England, Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Sergio Garcia of Spain were in a tie for 12th at 68, while Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott of Australia were in a tie for 22nd at 69.
Bubba Watson was tied for 35th at 70, while U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, Masters champion Danny Willett and Jordan Spieth were tied for 51st at 71, and top-ranked Jason Day of Australia was tied for 94th at 73.
