Phil Mickelson: Breaking Down Phil's Opening Round Performance

Phil Mickelson recorded his worst opening U.S. Open score since 1996 on Thursday.

That will give you an idea of how he fared at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Mickelson finished the first round on Thursday with a six-over-par 76, and is currently in danger of missing the cut. 

The 41-year-old got off to a rough start, bogeying his first three holes of the tournament. On his first swing of the tournament on hole No. 9, Mickelson drove his ball into a tree, declaring it lost. After three miserable holes, Mickelson parred No. 12 and birdied No. 13. However, he then bogeyed No. 14 and No. 16, parred his next five holes, bogeyed No. 4 and No. 5, and then parred his final three holes.

After Mickelson's third-place finish at the Masters this year, you wondered if he still had some magic left in him. He placed seventh at the Byron Nelson Championship in May, but withdrew from the Memorial.

Apparently the extra rest didn't help Mickelson. Despite being paired with Tiger Woods (who generally brings out the best in him), Mickelson looked like a shade of the 2012 Masters version.

Mickelson has been troubled by his driving accuracy all season long. He had hit 55.5 percent of fairways in 2012 coming into the U.S. Open (ranked 140th on the PGA Tour), then hit seven of 14 fairways in the first round on Thursday.

But what was really surprising in the opening round for Mickelson was that he hit just eight of 18 greens in regulation. That's not like him in 2012—he came into the tournament hitting over 66 percent of greens in regulation and ranked 36th on Tour in that regard.

If Mickelson has any shot of making the cut on Friday, he needs to drive well and hit those greens.

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