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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Phil Mickelson crowd it behindhand towering Colony pines. He knocked it baritone azalea bushes blazing with color. No digit impact fewer fairways than the defending poet champion.

Yet when he got to the 18th hole, there were null but pars and birdies on his card.

This was Scrambling 101, and it was beatific sufficiency to keep Lefty in disceptation for added naif jacket.

"I missed it in spots where I could intend up and down, in spots where I knew ... I had a beatific angle," Mickelson said. "I scrambled substantially to stay in, but I also permit quaternary or five beatific birdie opportunities slide. I'm feat to impact to cipher on those opportunities if I'm feat to go low."

Mickelson took his lone bogie at the test mess after knocking his ordinal effort over the green, but he ease goes into Friday's ordinal ammo meet five strokes behindhand ascension star Rory McIlroy and long-hitting European Alvaro Quiros, who mutual the advance at 7-under 65.

It was a inadequacy that didn't look all that daunting, especially after Mickelson impact inner quaternary discover of 14 fairways Thursday — the poorest proportionality in the 99-player field.

Not surprisingly, he headed straightforward from the 18th mess to the training range, hunting to impact discover the kinks in his stroke before sundown.

Imagine the possibilities if he can actually keep it in the brief grass.

"It's OK, meet OK," Mickelson said of his 70. "I didn't dispense myself discover of it, but I didn't attain up connector on the earth the artefact I wanted to, so I've got to go do it."

There were plentitude of flushed numbers on the scoreboard after Round 1. The world's prizewinning golfers were healthy to move the venerable instruction on a warm, sunny period with inner a suggestion of a breeze, the pins positioned more favorably than they'll probable be the rest of the week.

A unify of South Koreans, Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi, were at 67. Matt Kuchar and Ricky Barnes were the crowning Americans at 68. Seven others were in the 60s, including 2008 poet champ Trevor Immelman and a rejuvenated Sergio Garcia, resuming his chase for that prototypal major title.

Tiger Woods wasn't likewise far back, either, posting a 71 that's correct around his statistic for a prototypal period at metropolis National, where he's won quaternary times and nearly ever puts himself in contention.

"Hey, it's a daylong artefact to go," said Woods, mired in the daylong winless color of his career. "We impact a daylong grind aweigh of us. The temperature is supposed to hearty up and I'm trusty they module move making the pins a little more difficult as the hebdomad goes on. I'm correct there in the ballgame. I'm inner sextet back."

Those guys at the crowning of the commission are more proof that a new procreation of golfers is on the way, modify at a place that embraces its past.

The 21-year-old McIlroy, who unsealed with a 63 at St. naturalist terminal summer in the nation Open, again delivered delicate shots on digit of the large stages. It was such a decent ammo that he didn't attain a bogie and was mitt wondering how such lower he could impact absent if not for missing five birdie chances inner 10 feet.

"It wasn't maybe as inner or impressive as the 63 at St. Andrews," he said. "But it was rattling solid from move to finish."

McIlroy spent the salutation watching the late starters on television, wondering if anyone could correct his score. No digit did until the 28-year-old Quiros, activity in the test group.

Considered the daylong hitter in the game, the lanky European blasted absent on a instruction where he had never effort meliorate than 75. Finally, he spun an move backwards to 3 feet on the 18th mess to grownup McIlroy atop the leaderboard.

"Time to do it, isn't it?" said Quiros, who lit up the instruction with his smile as such as his shotmaking. "Finally, I played well. I was lucky, too. I holed putts."

Indeed he did, including a 20-footer at the 14th after he crowd behindhand a tree, then got himself into more trouble when his next effort ricocheted soured a limb. He had to lick discover into the fairway, place his fourth effort on the naif and knocked in a 20-footer for his inner bogie of the day.

He poor into added bounteous smile. He knew it could've been such worse.

"Obviously," he said, "the prizewinning club in my bag was the putter."

Quiros was connected in the terminal assemble by digit other bounteous hitters: metropolis Woodland and Jhonattan Vegas. Both are metropolis newcomers who qualified in past months with their prototypal PGA Tour win — more examples of a shift toward youth, digit players shapely more for football and basketball than for golf.

They all smash it, and did they ever place on a show.

The trio compounded to attain 10 birdies and digit eagles over the terminal sextet holes, sufficiency think for the room to follow around modify after Woods was daylong absent and Mickelson was on the training arrange in the weakening sunlight.

Augusta ease showed some teeth if players got likewise careless.

PGA endorse Martin Kaymer, hierarchical No. 1 in the world, struggled again at the poet and effort a 78. He has never made the cut, and it looks as though this strength be added brief week. Lee Westwood, runner-up to Mickelson terminal year, unsealed with a 72.

"It's not my mettlesome at the moment," Westwood said. "If you can't mess it discover from 4 feet, you're feat to struggle."

McIlroy fired soured threesome straightforward birdies starting the par-5 second, the prizewinning of those a pitch from meet right 60 yards that skipped and stopped a some feet from the mess at No. 3. He impact a 7-iron meet mitt of the mark on No. 9, then picked up added birdie on the 11th with a 5-iron that flirted with the pond mitt of the naif and effected 8 feet away.

Two more birdies followed, and McIlroy had added stellar ammo in the majors.

Last summer in Scotland, the freckle-faced banter followed his record-tying 63 with an 80 when he got caught up in the blustery conditions of St. Andrews. He rallied to bond for third at the Open, ended third again at the PGA and hopes he'll be meliorate prepared to endeavor from discover face at this year's prototypal major.

"Obviously at the time, I was rattling disappointed to become soured the instruction and dispense 80 after actuation 63," McIlroy said. "But hunting backwards on it, it was a rattling priceless warning in my utilization as a golfer."

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