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Dubbed
‘Phil the Thrill’ for his bold approach to the game, Phil Mickelson
gave his fans exactly what they wanted to see with a roller-coaster
opening round at the Tour Championship on Thursday.

The American world
number two, champion here last year, attracted the biggest galleries of
the day as he mixed two sparkling eagles with a birdie and four bogeys
on the way to a one-under-par 69.

Scoring was not
easy on a slick East Lake layout that became even firmer on a hot and
humid day and Mickelson ended the round just three strokes off the pace.

“It was a
challenging test today,” the four-times major winner told reporters
after recording two eagles on the back nine. “There were some good
scores and some high ones.

“I was able to
shoot one kind of in the middle there with one under par, and I’ll
gladly take it. It’s a better position than I started last year.”

Left-hander Mickelson holed out from 115 yards to eagle the par-four 12th before faltering with a bogey at the 13th.

He then struck a
superb three-wood to 11 feet at the par-five 15th before sinking the
eagle putt but again dropped a shot at the very next hole.

“It’s frustrating to follow eagles with bogeys,” he said. “It was an up-and-down round.

“But I had some
good fortune with those eagles, and I had some poor swings with those
bogeys. This golf course will really penalise you for missing any
shot.”

Number one ranking is sight

There is plenty on the line for Mickelson this week with FedExCup honours and the number one ranking also in his sights.

For Mickelson to
end Tiger Woods’s run of 276 weeks at the top, he needs to win the Tour
Championship or finish no worse than joint second with two other
players.

“I’d love to take
advantage of the opportunity,” said Mickelson, who for the 12th time
this year started a tournament with a chance to replace Woods as the
game’s leading player.

“I’ve had multiple opportunities for months, and I haven’t played well enough to do it. Hopefully I do this week.”

Victory at East
Lake would also earn Mickelson the FedExCup, along with the $10 million
bonus, but he accepts he made his task more difficult with erratic play
in the first three playoff events.

“If I had played
halfway decent, I would be in a position to control my own destiny,”
said Mickelson, who missed the cut at The Barclays, the first of the
four playoff events.

Mickelson needs to win the Tour Championship to land the FedExCup,
with the leading five players in the points’ standings going into this
week finishing sufficiently far back.