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Phil Mickelson's finished with a 73 during the opening round. That is, obviously, one over par for the day and quite a disappointing start for the lean-looking two-time Masters champion. It would be easy to pin all of Phil's woes on his inexplicable decision to rock the "white belt look" out again today, but it's more than just that: Mickelson hit only 12 of 18 greens in regulation and a very unimpressive six of 14 fairways. By contrast, Mickelson's playing partner, early clubhouse leader Jim Furyk, hit 18/18 greens in regulation and 11/14 fairways.
And Furyk's GIR (greens in regulation) emphasizes something that everyone's been saying all day: Augusta right now is setup for "perfect scoring conditions." The weather is ideal, the course is in great shape, and people are getting dialed in on the course. Tim Clark came out blazing and posted a very early 4-under, but it's barely letting him hang around (he's in a T-5 spot right now).
Which means that for Mickelson, this is very different than previous Masters -- in 2004, Phil fired a 72 on the first day and closed out 69-69-69; in 2006, 70-72-70-69 was a winning score. In other words, right now, scores are lower than normal (again, scoring conditions are great) and Mickelson has a lot less room for error if he wants to hang around par and try to make a run at the leaders.
Obviously it's early, too; Phil could drop a 65 tomorrow and we'll all forget about it. But right now, you have to figure that he and his fans and anyone who took him in a Masters pool are most certainly feeling more than just a twinge of disappointment right now (kind of like finding out that Shane Bacon is leading your Masters live chat).
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