Phil Mickelson returns with scrambling 68 at La Quinta
Phil Mickelson hit his opening tee shot so poorly in morning rain and cold that he hit a provisional ball just to get in another swing.
Lefty hooked his first tee shot into the trees at La Quinta Country Club, then reloaded and hit the provisional in the fairway.
Tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli shot a 64 on the Stadium Course at PGA West, the most difficult of the event’s three courses, to top the leaderboard.
Vegas and Kizzire played PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, and Varner and Swafford opened at La Quinta.
Defending champion Duffy Waldorf, Bernhard Langer and Marco Dawson shot 8-under 64s to share the first-round lead at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
Henrik Stenson chipped in from 30 yards and had seven more birdies to open the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with an 8-under 64 for a two-stroke lead in his first competitive round of 2017.