ORLANDO, Fla. — Phil Mickelson, who said he felt as if he had no game Thursday, squandered the chance to steal a subpar round out of it before taking six putts on his last two holes to finish with a disappointing opening-round 73 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
Mickelson followed an eagle on No. 16 with three-putt bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18.
“Three-putting 17 and 18 feels terrible walking off the course, but I hit it terrible,’’ Mickelson said. “I felt terrible swinging the club. I didn’t know which way I was going to miss it and that’s not a good feeling. I thought anything at par or better would be a good score. I’ll have to make some adjustments heading into [Friday].”
* For a while, it looked as if Bill Haas might tie Justin Rose for the lead, before he bogeyed three of the last five holes, including Nos. 17 and 18, to finish 3-under par.
“It is disappointing, because I had a really good round of ball striking and just didn’t finish it well,’’ said Haas, who was 6-under par through 13 holes.”
The highlight of Haas’ round came when he holed out a 117-yard wedge for eagle on the par-5 6th hole.
* Brandt Snedeker, the PGA Tour money leader who was coming off five weeks off rehabbing a rib injury, had a nightmarish finish with a triple bogey on the par-3 17th hole when his tee shot failed to clear the water.
Snedeker, who finished 4-over, walked all the way to the green in hopes that his tee shot landed in a bunker just over the water, but was forced to go back and re-tee.
“My iron game killed me,’’ Snedeker said.
* Last week’s winner in Tampa, Kevin Streelman, perhaps feeling a hangover from his first career PGA Tour victory, got off to a slow start with a 2-over-par 74. … Amateur Peter Williamson, an invitee into the field thanks to his win at the Southern Amateur, got off to an awful start and the round got no better from there. Williamson hit a 20-handicap-like duck-hook tee shot on his first hole, No. 10, and went on to shoot 41-42 to finish 11-over par.