Scottsdale, Ariz. – Rickie Fowler overcame some bad shots for a share of the lead Thursday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
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Kiwi golfer Danny Lee has birdied the famous “party hole” 16 at TPC Scottsdale in Phoenix and finished his round tied for second.
Ko, the world No. 1 player making her 2016 debut, was 4-under-par for her round and faced a 15-foot birdie putt on her final hole, the par-4 ninth, at Golden Ocala when the horn sounded to stop play because of thunderstorms in the area.
Fowler posted an impressive 65 and is joined on six-under by Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. Lowry birdied seven of his first 13 holes.
Mickelson is in one of two featured groups with Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner, the latter of whom recently won the CareerBuilder Challenge.
Anirban Lahiri of India was in the clubhouse on 66, while Bryce Molder was also five-under through 16 holes when play was halted.
Phil Mickelson, a three-time victor of this tournament, shot a 2-under 69 and is tied for 31st, four shots off the lead.
Back-to-back bogeys on the fifth and sixth frustrated the 28-year-old, but his opening six-under-par 65 was studded with enough class to give Lowry real hope he can stay in the mix over the weekend. Towards the end of past year is some of the best I have ever been swinging. I feel like you learn about travelling pretty quickly how much you can and can’t do, maybe what your limitations are and how much you can fit in. A day after driving into the left-side water, he hammered a fairway wood down the middle and – with music thumping in the background – hit his approach to 4 feet. “If you notice, the big hitters are hitting it hard and hopefully get the right breaks….” The two-time Masters champion tied for second the last two years and has shot par or better in all 36 of his career rounds in the event, playing to a cumulative 97 under.
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But he said of his performance: “I felt like last week I still wasn’t – I wasn’t far off. I mean, a few putts go in and I’m actually in a good position”. He was one of 33 players who failed to finish. “It’s a bad mistake if you don’t learn from it”. Two days after criticizing the renovated course and saying he was only playing the tournament out of loyalty to his sponsors, he apologized.
