After making the turn at two over on Thursday, Phil Mickelson seemed in danger of another short week. After a brilliant back nine, the five-time major champ now finds himself in contention.
Coming off consecutive missed cuts on the PGA Tour, Mickelson is trying his luck on the European Tour in this week’s Saudi International. Phil’s struggles seemed to travel with him to the Middle East after an early double bogey and two bogeys on his opening nine. But Mickelson responded with a flurry of birdies on the back, including this near hole-in-one on No. 11 where his tee shot grazed the flagstick before settling a couple feet away:
RELATED: Phil Mickelson responds to criticism for playing in Saudi Arabia
It was part of a seven-hole stretch in which Mickelson made six birdies and a bogey (of course).
A closing birdie gave him seven on the back nine and nine for the round. Add up the typical rollercoaster round from Phil and it was a four-under-par 66.
Graeme McDowell and Gavin Green lead at six under after opening 64s. Henrik Stenson, Adri Arnaus, and Sebastian Soderberg, who on Sunday played the fastest round in European Tour history, are at five under.
RELATED: Phil plays in Saudi Arabia with backers of potential new golf tour
The 66 is the best score Mickelson has shot since an opening 65 at another desert golf course nearly four months ago at the Shriners Hospitals. But he’s hoping for a much better finish than the T-61 he managed that week.
Mickelson, who will turn 50 in June, fell out of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in nearly 26 years a month after that disappointing result in Las Vegas. His OWGR free fall has continued to start 2020 with him entering this week at No. 86.
RELATED: Why you shouldn’t give up on Phil Mickelson just yet