BUICK CLASSICNOTEBOOK
Phil Mickelson had a productive and recreational day yesterday.
First, he fired a 3-under-par 68 to move to 5-under for the Buick Classic entering the weekend and put himself in contention. And then he took in the Yankees-Padres game at Yankee Stadium, taking his daughter, Amanda, for her first trip to the big yard and bringing Billy Mayfair and his son, Maxwell. Before his nighttime fun, Mickelson shot himself back into contention with a solid round.
“I think 5-under is certainly within striking distance,” Mickelson said. “It’s trailing by more than I would like, but with 36 holes to play, if I can get a good round in, 6-, 7-, 8-under par . . .”
*
Irishman Padraig Harrington was asked yesterday to define links golf.
“I would define links golf with a little story,” he said. “At Lytham [in England], I stand up and take a driver out on a blind tee shot and I ripped this drive over the hill. There’s not a sound from the spectators that are there, so over the hill I go and start looking for my golf ball 120 yards short of the green. I look in the right-hand trap and I also looked across the fairway in the left-hand trap.
“I covered maybe an acre of ground looking for my ball and it turns up 15 feet from the hole in a bunker. That’s links golf. That is exactly what links golf is. You hit it and it’s still a mystery until you actually find your golf ball.”