Palm Beach Gardens resident Nicholas Thompson is one of the golfers in the first round. Phil Mickelson for example was 34 before he broke through at the highest level with a memorable win at the 2004 Masters. Mickelson had a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff and watched it spin around the edge of the cup. He birdied two of the last three holes to beat Adam Scott and Jason Kokrak by a stroke. The victory that he so dearly wanted had to eluded him.
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“It’s served me well up until this point; when I’m on, I hole putts and it’s good”. “It’s gone through a hard time for a couple of years”. Whether I won or not, it’s a stepping stone for where my game is going. “And I was nervous about the first month, how the results were going to go”.
Mickelson, 45, returns to Honda for the third consecutive season after skipping the event from 2003-13.
Rory McIlroy is prepared to accept being a streaky putter if he can win five times a year.
That will mean a full slate of fantasy tournaments on DraftKings that begin on Thursday including the featured PGA $4M Fantasy Golf Millionaire SUPERSatellite contest. “It was one of those things where – I was 2-under early in the round to over par after seven (holes)”. The course is looking really good, as good as it ever has done I think.
Talking about the familiar setting of the Champion Course, Berger looked back – although not that far back, since he’s only 22 – and remembered playing there as a teenager. Walking to 12 tee, instead of being 11 under, I’m 8 under and all I’m doing then is trying to go for pins and I started to short-side myself.
“I feel like I’m probably where I expected to be”, Mickelson said.
“And now that I am, now that I’m in contention, now that I feel much calmer and more relaxed playing and showing up on the golf course, I know that it’s a matter of time”. I didn’t think about it too much. “I know my game is in good shape and it’s there, and I hope to get into contention again this week”.
The tie for 20th was McIlroy’s worst finish dating to the Frys.com Open last October. Factor in that he is coming off a solid performance at last week’s Northern Trust Open where he finished T-26 and it’s clear that Els is worth taking a shot on at just over $7K in PGA fantasy. It’s a great way to prep because he’s (Jordan) one of the greatest competitors in the world.
Now McIlroy is back at a tournament where he’s been up and down.
Mickleson is playing at the Honda for the third year in a row and is on a nice run after switching swing coaches in the offseason, leaving Butch Harmon for Australian Andrew Getson.
Like Honda Classic debutant Shane Lowry, the world No 3 would prefer to miss a rash of cuts and win regularly than plod along racking up top 30 finishes. “That was more of a surprise”. I’m hitting a multitude of shots easily. “It’s just fun to see all my friends come back out and support me”. Mickelson tied for second two weeks ago at Pebble Beach.
“It was easy, ” he said.
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Fowler is aiming to break through and win his first major.
