Four-time Major champion Phil Mickelson will look to play his way through a run of poor form ahead of next week’s British Open.
Mickelson’s indifferent play of late continued with the current World No. 16 posting a one over par 73 on the opening day of the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.
The American recorded four birdies but also three bogeys and a 12thhole double bogey that left him already trailing 11 strokes behind Italy’s Francesco Molinari who established a new course record of a 10-under par 62.
Phil Mickelson has hardly little to smile about as he struggles with his form. (Photo - Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)
It is the second straight year Mickelson has commenced the Scottish Open with a 73 and comes after he missed the cut in his last event, the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia.
And Mickelson admitted his arrival into Scotland on the eve of the event was not a contributing factor in his poor first round score.
“No, that had nothing to do with,” he said.
“It’s just that I have been playing poorly the last few months and I only added this week to play a little bit more and I am hoping to get a good round tomorrow so I can play the weekend.
“This Castle Stuart course is a great links course and great preparation for the British Open.”
Mickelson arrived into Inverness after spending the earlier part of the week on a family vacation in Venice and Rome.
After previously visiting Italy, he particularly wanted to take his 13-year old daughter, Amanda back to Italy as she is interested in Roman and Greek architecture.
“We were on a family vacation earlier this week in Europe and I thought that I would go to Royal Lytham and spend last Saturday and Sunday before heading over to Europe,” he said.
“After playing poorly last week I needed to get into a competition and try and get out and score because I am not just throwing one or two shots away. I am throwing four, five or six and I am trying to get that resolved.
“It’s just one of those things where I am making a couple of sloppy shots here and there, and a few poor decisions or what have you.
“I feel the more I play the better I will get back into a good mindset and focusing on each shot.
“So I am appreciative of the Tournament Committee in that they had one more invitation and I could play this week.
“But we all go through what I am going through throughout our career, and while it’s only been three tournaments, I also have only played three weeks out of the last six to eight weeks.
“And when I have played I have not been in a good competitive, tournament frame of mind.”
Mickelson ended his round near 5.45pm local time and intended to take advantage of the longer hours of sunshine in northern Scotland to spend some three to four hours working on his game.
