Phil Mickelson ties career low with opening-round 60 at Desert Classic at La Quinta

The last time Phil Mickelson made headlines, he was winning a winner-take-all exhibition against Tiger Woods that involved a lot of bad golf and a bunch of money.

With the golf counting again on Thursday on a drizzly day in La Quinta, California, Mickelson left no questions lingering about the quality of his game.

Mickelson opened the front nine at six-under at the Desert Classic, highlighted by an eagle on the Par 5 sixth hole. After birdying four of the first five holes on the back nine, he needed to close at 2-under par to finish with a 60 on the day.

Career round for Lefty

The round ties a career low and makes Mickelson the first golfer with three rounds of 60 in his PGA career.

His other two rounds of 60 didn’t come on par 72 courses, making Thursday’s his lowest career round in relation to par.

Mickelson: ‘Kind of a lucky day’

He did just that. Mickelson birdied 16 and 18 to close his round, finishing at 12-under par to take a four-stroke lead into the clubhouse over Curtis Luck in the first round at La Quinta.

He finished with 10 birdies, an eagle and no bogeys on the day.

“It was kind of a lucky day for me in the sense that I did not feel sharp heading in,” Mickelson told Golf Network. “I haven’t really had the intense practice sessions that I would like.”

“But I felt like all parts were OK, and it just clicked. Some days you have those days where it just clicks.”

All parts of his game were on, obviously, but his putter would not fail him. Mickelson needed just 21 putts on the day.

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