Playing with a bum wrist he actually injured while preparing for the 107th U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson has navigated his first nine holes at Oakmont successfully, shooting 38 (+3). The defending runner up did not make a birdie and bogeyed 11, 16 and 18 while playing the back nine first. Mickelson is playing alongside Jim Furyk, who made the turn at minus-1 in his customary "fairways-and-greens" fashion.
Just a year removed from a 72nd hole meltdown at Winged Foot, there was some question as to whether Lefty would even be able to tee off this week in Pennsylvania. Mickelson is wearing a black elastic brace on his left hand to help him cope with the nagging wrist injury that kept him from practicing extensively on the range and continues to cause him pain on the course today. He has recently started removing the brace when putting. He did receive a cortisone shot leading up to this event.
The owner of 31 PGA Tour victories, most recently at the 2007 Players Championship, the second-ranked player in the world has still yet to win our national championship.
Bleacher Report is the web's only Open Source Sports Network. If you've got something to say, let our writers hear it or register for free to write your own editorial.
comments (0) write a comment »
write a new comment
This article has no comments.