LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Phil Mickelson did something Thursday he rarely does after a round in a major: He headed directly to the practice range to hit balls.
Mickelson, coming off a strong performance at last week’s Scottish Open, played poorly yesterday, shooting a 3-over-par 73 to stand nine shots out back.
“I putted poorly and I drove it horrific and the chipping was below average,’’ said Mickelson, who, uncharacteristically, wore a glove on each hand during the back nine. “This is a very playable course with the soft conditions and the soft greens and if you keep the ball in the fairway, you can make birdies. And I hit it terribly.’’
Mickelson said his coach, Butch Harmon, “saw something’’ in his swing and he headed straight to the range to work on it.
“It’s very rare I hit golf balls after the round,’’ Mickelson said. “Hopefully we’ll get it figured out for [today]. Hopefully … hopefully, but I have not played well for a while, so I’m not sure if this is a long-term thing or short-term, so we’ll see.’’
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There was no defense to Darren Clarke’s opening-round defense of his Open Championship first round.
Clarke, who won his first major championship a year ago when he captured the British Open at Royal St. Georges, carded a 6-over-par 76.
“I don’t think you could publish my thoughts right now,’’ Clarke said. “I’m basically disgusted with myself for shooting 6?over. That’s not what I was after. I had a lovely tee shot to the first and made a pure putt. From there, it just got worse. I played poorly and I putted worse.’’
Making Clarke’s score look even worse was the fact that the conditions while he played were as benign as they could have been, with a number of players breaking par, including leader Adam Scott, who shot a 6-under-par 64 — 12 shots better than Clarke.
“Bad day at the office,’’ Clarke said.
Asked what his thoughts were as he finished his round, Clarke said, “Coming up the last [I was] thinking, ‘How the [bleep] did I manage to win this last year?’ ’’
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Luke Donald, who is ranked No. 1 in the world despite never having won a major championship, continued his streak of failing to shoot an opening-round in a major of below 70. He shot 70, and has not broken 70 in the opening round of a major since 2006.
Donald, who bogeyed 18 to squander a 69, said, “Obviously that last hole leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.’’
Donald leads a group of five Englishmen that also includes Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Paul Casey. None fared very well with Westwood shooting 73, Rose 74, Casey shooting 72 and Poulter 71.
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The weather report for Friday’s second round calls for “cloudy with a 70 percent chance of showers, becoming mostly dry after 10 a.m. with winds 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow’s forecast is for “dry with sunny periods and winds 5 to 10 mph and gust of 15 mph.’’ For Sunday’s final round: “Bright start with clouds increasing but expected to remain dry with winds freshening from 15 to 20 mph with gusts of 25 to 30 mph during the afternoon.’’
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Russ Cochran withdrew before play began Thursday and was replaced by first alternate Michael Thompson. Thompson, who flew to England with hopes of getting into the field and practiced Tuesday and Wednesday, shot 74.