NAPA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson found reason to be optimistic even after opening his new season in disastrous fashion.
Mickelson was only a few holes into his first competitive round in more than a month when he peeled two straight approach shots out of bounds on the par-5 fifth hole at the Safeway Open, leading to a quadruple-bogey 9. The blunders came on a hole where Mickelson made triple bogey during last year’s final round at Silverado Resort & Spa, and they proved to be a big reason why he’s near the bottom of the early leaderboard following a 3-over 75.