PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Moving day at the U.S. Open went like this: Get your birdies and eagles early and keep the bogeys and bigger numbers to a minimum as Pebble Beach got more difficult.
Phil Mickelson didn’t follow the plan. And very quickly Saturday, Lefty was falling out of contention.
Mickelson struggled on the opening nine and made the turn at 3 over for his round. He bogeyed his first two holes before an adventure at the ninth.
On the long 505-yard par 4 that hugs the Pacific coastline, Mickelson’s double bogey left him at 2 over for the tournament. Mickelson drove into a fairway bunker, hit the lip with his second shot and saw his third nestle into a thatch of fescue grass near the cliffs on the right.
Mickelson was forced to spin around and hit his fourth shot right-handed .
