Phil Mickelson’s first round as a 50-year-old is his best in over 4 months

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson is in contention after his first round at the 2020 Travelers Championship.

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Phil Mickelson, newly eligible for the senior circuit after celebrating his 50th birthday on June 16th, has no plans to retire to the PGA Tour Champions anytime soon — and for good reason.

Lefty fired his best round in over four months, signing for a first-round score of 64 at the Travelers Championship. The last time Mickelson shot a round of six under par or better was at February’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when he signed for a second round of seven-under-par 64. That round helped him get into contention, but he sputtered to a final round of 74 and ended up in solo third, five shots behind eventual winner Nick Taylor.

Phil Mickelson watches a shot in the first round of the Travelers.
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Mickelson carded six birdies on Thursday in Connecticut, and perhaps more remarkably, zero bogeys. The Travelers is Mickelson’s second tournament back since the PGA Tour’s restart. He also played the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, but missed the cut after firing rounds of 69-71.

Posting a low number in the opening round of the Travelers bodes well for Mickelson’s prospects this week, as he has missed the cut in his last three Tour starts. Mickelson teed off in the morning wave at the Travelers and was tied for third as the afternoon players began their rounds.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.