Thursday, Oct. 12, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.
The sun was out and the winds were calm Wednesday morning at the Desert Inn Golf Club.
Except for a slight chill in the air, the conditions were perfect for playing a round of golf.
They were so nice that PGA Tour professional Phil Mickelson said a good round, not a great round, would have been 5- or 6-under-par 72. But Mickelson wasn't talking about his own ability to shoot a 67 or 66 at the D.I., he was referring to his colleagues.
That's because Mickelson, who shot a 69 at the D.I. in the first round of the $4.25 million Invensys Classic, hasn't had much success there in the past. The tournament, which concludes on Sunday, is being played at the D.I., the TPC at Summerlin and Southern Highlands.
"The reason I'm not disappointed is because Desert Inn has been a thorn in my side in this tournament," Mickelson said. "I have played very poorly here for whatever reason.
"It threw me out of the tournament a couple years ago after shooting very low on (TPC at) Summerlin. So to shoot 3-under today, I was pretty pleased with it."
Not a bad start for someone who hasn't played in a tournament since the end of August.
The last event Mickelson entered was the WGC NEC Invitational where he tied for fourth, bringing his year's earnings to $3,387,457 and putting him second on the money list to, as Mickelson jokingly put it, "you know who (Tiger Woods)."
Taking time off to be with his family in Scottsdale, Ariz., has been Mickelson's custom for years.
"For me the tour ends in August," he said. "The reason I'm playing here is it's very close to my home.
"I enjoy the weather and I enjoy the city. I'm playing the Tour Championship and the President's Cup. This kind of gives me a little bit of competitiveness heading into the President's Cup."
Admittedly, he could use the tuneup.
Mickelson bogeyed the first hole, then birdied Nos. 5 and 9, both par 5s on the front nine, to go 1-under at the turn.
On the par-4 12th hole, Mickelson hit his drive to the left of the fairway to about 105 yards, then chipped his second shot to about five feet. His parred the hole after his putt for birdie hit the lip of the cup and rolled out.
Mickelson couldn't capitalize on another birdie opportunity from about 25 feet on the par-4 13th hole, either.
"I am a little bit rusty," Mickelson said.
"Facing three four-footers for par or what have you is more difficult when I haven't been playing competitively. The front nine I actually made a couple of good putts. The back nine I missed some short ones.
"But my feeling is for whatever reason I've never really putted these greens well. There's a lot of little rolls in them and I don't read them well. I feel much more comfortable at Summerlin where the greens are very consistently pitched."
This is the seventh time Mickelson has played in the tournament. His best result came in 1994 when he tied for third with Billy Andrade.
Mickelson currently ranks second in putting average, eagles, actual scoring (69.69) and scoring before the cut (69.46). But he rarely has contended at the Invensys Classic, even though it seems to be suited for his game.
"I really think that not having played for that long a period is why I haven't done well here, but I did something different this year that I'm hoping will help," Mickelson said. "I worked with Rick Smith the first couple of days this week so I've gotten on the right track.
"I feel like I'm working on the right things heading into the week so I believe I'll progressively get better as the week goes on."
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