A lackluster performance in the First Round of the 2011 PGA Championship will put an end to any chance Phil Mickelson had of winning the tournament. With Steve Stricker at seven-under and the afternoon wave of players yet to start their rounds, Mickelson's one-over isn't going to cut it.
Scoring conditions are terrific at the Atlanta Athletic Club and should continue throughout the weekend. That means you can't afford an over-par round while everybody else is posting red numbers and making up a lot of ground.
Mickelson was stuck in neutral for much of his round, posting three bogeys, two birdies and 13 pars. He took advantage of the two long par fives, but other than that he didn't put himself in good enough positions and didn't sink putts.
Some will argue Mickelson is a good enough golfer to make up ground over the next three days. However, his play throughout the season says that he won't be able to put up the three straight terrific rounds necessary to catch up.
The winner of this tournament the last time is was on the Highlands Course was David Toms at 15-under. When you combine the first round scores and likely scoring conditions moving forward, the winning score will probably be in the same range, if not better.
Assuming 15-under is the magic number, it means Mickelson would have to play 16 strokes below par over the next three days. Based on what we've seen from him in recent months, it is hard to see him going that low.
Mickelson sounded upbeat in his post-round interview, but until the entire field finishes the round, he won't know exactly how daunting his task will be. As much as Mickelson will try to convince himself otherwise, he has already lost his chance at the PGA Championship.
| Place | Player | Score |
| 1 | Steve Stricker | -7 |
| 2 | Alexander Noren | -5 |
| 3 | Jerry Kelly | -4 |
| T-4 | John Senden | -3 |
| T-4 | Bill Haas | -3 |
| T-38 | Phil Mickelson | +1 |
Susie Castillo T.A.T.u. Talisa Soto Tamala Jones Tami Donaldson
No comments:
Post a Comment