PINEHURST, N.C. -- Standing over a 15-foot putt on the 18th green Thursday, Phil Mickelson could have had a lot of different things on his mind.
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| Mickelson had five birdies during his round, but his par putt on No. 18 was just as important. |
Understandably, his thoughts could have been with his wife Amy back home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Mickelson and his wife are expecting their first child in the next two weeks, and it was only Tuesday that he made the decision to play in the U.S. Open. If the baby arrives during the tournament, he promises to leave immediately -- no matter his standing both on the leaderboard and out on the course -- and fly home to witness the birth.
Or Mickelson could have been thinking "what if?" as he lined up the difficult downhill putt for par on Pinehurst No. 2's finishing hole. What if he had selected a different chipping method the shot before, leaving himself an easier putt? What if he had put his approach shot in the middle of the green, as intended, ensuring a two-putt par at worst?
Instead, Mickelson was faced with flushing a fast 15-footer to maintain a share of the early first-round lead with playing partner David Duval.
Lucky for him, reading and stroking the putt were the only things he kept in mind as he put his smooth, left-handed stroke on the ball.
"I just wanted to work it down the hill," Mickelson said later. "And when it got down there it snuck in the left edge."
Work and sneak it did. The putt appeared to want to curl left at the very end, but as it slowed it caught the edge of the cup, hesitated and then dropped in. The result was an opening 3-under 67 and a share of the lead with Billy Mayfair, Paul Goydos and Duval heading into Friday.
"I hit a poor chip shot," said Mickelson, recalling what put him in such a tough position. "Looking back at it, it was probably a poor choice of clubs. Because I had some green to work with, I probably should have putted it.
"(But) I hit an L-wedge because it was downhill and I thought spin would help. But it ended up checking up short.
"I could have done either (putt or wedge), because the grain was down," he said in summation. "I felt like I had been practicing that shot with the L-wedge and it would be fine."
It wasn't. But it didn't matter in the end -- not with Mickelson able to keep his mind clear and his name atop the leaderboard.
