Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed both successfully negotiated a blustery Blue Monster in the opening round of LIV Golf Miami on Thursday.
Doral’s famed Blue Monster is one of the toughest courses in America when the wind starts to blow, so Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed will both be happy men waking up on Friday morning.
Mickelson got his LIV Golf Miami tournament off to a very solid start by posting a 69.
He’s two shots off the leader – Patrick Reed, after the 34-year-old American shot a wonderful five under-par 67 in what were supremely difficult conditions.
Mickelson is a fierce advocate of LIV Golf, and often argues against its many criticisms.
The 54-year-old three-time Masters champion knows what it takes to win everywhere in the world, and he would love to get the job done in Miami heading to Augusta National next week.
Phil Mickelson has tipped fellow LIV star Sergio Garcia to do well at Augusta in the 89th edition of The Masters.
Lefty will fancy his own chances as well, as will Reed.
Both Mickelson and Reed are both still in search of their first wins on LIV.
However, that may well change for one of them this weekend.
Phil Mickelson can’t describe what Patrick Reed did at LIV Golf Miami
The tournament out in Miami is finely poised heading into day two.
Mickelson is in a tie for second place alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, just two shots adrift of Reed.
There are 15 players within five shots of the leader, and the next two days of golf should be spectacularly exciting to watch.
Reed deserves huge praise for his opening round in the tricky conditions at Doral’s Blue Monster.
Mickelson spoke to reporters after his own fine round of golf, and admitted that he was lost for words after what Reed did out on the course.
The six-time major champion responded when asked how he rated his round:
“It was a really good round, anything under par today was going to be a tough round. It’s tough, it’s a tough wind and the greens are really fast
“Patrick’s round was, I don’t know how to describe it, how great that round is. We’ve seen low rounds out here before but not in these conditions, he played exceptional.”
Phil Mickelson says he did something ‘weird’ at LIV Golf Miami
Mickelson’s opening round at The Blue Monster was a thing of real beauty.
He plotted his way around the famed Miami track with pin-point accuracy.
Gone is most of the pizzazz that Mickelson once possessed, but he’s still very much a man at the top of his game right now.
Phil’s opening round 69 in Miami didn’t actually get off to the best of starts, after he made a bogey on his opening hole:
“I played really well, I kept the ball in play. After a weird first hole I hit it really well the rest of the day.”
Phil Mickelson is clearly improving with every week that passes, but whether he’ll be able to usurp Patrick Reed on the leaderboard at LIV Golf Miami remains to be seen.
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