Mickelson opens up 2-shot lead with blistering Round 1 at Quail Hollow
The 50-year-old still has it.
Phil Mickelson fired a 7-under 64 in Round 1 of the Wells Fargo Championship to open up a two-shot lead from Quail Hollow Club.
Lefty came out hot on Thursday with a birdie on his first hole and carded six red numbers in total after 10. A clean second nine got him in the clubhouse for the lowest score on the PGA TOUR since June of 2020.
Mickelson, who has struggled to find his form on the PGA TOUR this season, may have received the spark he needed from his playing partner, Joel Dahmen. The two exchanged shots at each other Wednesday evening on Twitter, with Dahmen taking this jab at the two-time winner about the PGA TOUR Champions.
Im excited to see how my game stacks up against the best of the @ChampionsTour https://t.co/ov7aqrm865
— Joel Dahmen (@Joel_Dahmen) May 6, 2021
Mickelson got the last laugh, beating Dahmen by four.
Lesson learned 😏 pic.twitter.com/WgjiWmB3hM
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 6, 2021
"We were just walking to scoring, and Ryan Armour said, 'You don't have to poke the bear,'" Dahmen said, according to TeeScripts. "So I poked him a little bit, and he played awesome today. It was incredible."
Mickelson holds his two-shot advantage over Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Keegan Bradley.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard stands after Round 1:
| Place | Player | To Par | R1 Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Mickelson | -7 | 64 |
| T2 | Kyoung-Hoon Lee | -5 | 66 |
| T2 | Keegan Bradley | -5 | 66 |
| T4 | Peter Malnati | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Tommy Fleetwood | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Luke List | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Gary Woodland | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Keith Mitchel | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Kyle Stanley | -4 | 67 |
Sungjae Im (3-under), Justin Thomas (2-under), and Viktor Hovland (2-under) all got off to solid starts.
Rory McIlroy, who is a two-time winner at Quail Hollow, shot 1-over and sits outside the top 60.
Round 2 of the Wells Fargo Championship begins at 6:50 a.m. on Friday.