Mickelson salvages first Masters round after lost ball at 10

Phil Mickelson hopes the end of his round Thursday leads to more good things heading into today’s second round.

After a triple-bogey debacle at No. 10, Mickelson found a rhythm, saving his Thursday round with three birdies over the final six holes to card 2-over 74, putting himself in position to keep momentum with a strong Friday start.

“With a hot round, I’ll get right back in it for the weekend,” Mickelson said. “I know that heading in I’ve been playing well enough to shoot 6-, 7-under scores. So I’m going to fire at it (Friday) and see if I can do that.”

Disaster struck Mickelson at 10, where an errant shot forced patrons to help look for the ball. He later said he got a little narrow on the downswing with his driver, a problem he expects to correct.

Following that bad shot, he said he hit a provisional at 10.

His fourth shot found the greenside bunker. Three shots later left him with a 7 on the par 4.

But Mickelson, who also bogeyed 14, took advantage of the two par 5s on the second nine.

“The key was getting through 11 and 12 and some pars, taking advantage of the par 5s,” he said. “I got two of them back coming in, so as poorly as I played and some of the poor shots I hit and the mishaps, missing on the wrong spots, I’m right there.”

Mickelson birdied 13 and 15 and did the same on the par-4 18, making him just one of seven to do so on the last hole.

After his round, Mickelson kept emphasizing his need for a good start in today’s round. He hopes success on early holes leaves him seeing red next to his name on the leaderboard.

“That birdie on 18 was a big momentum birdie for me because I can get out here and birdie 1, 2 or 3 and I’m right back at even par,” Mickelson said. “Then I start trying to catch the leaders. That’s kind of the game plan right now.”