Sports

Mickelson hits practice range after erratic first round at PGA Championship

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Phil Mickelson was so stunned at his erratic play in Thursday’s PGA Championship opening round he did something he rarely does after a tournament round — march straight to the practice range to try to figure it out.

Mickelson, blowing a tee shot out of bounds on the par-5 fourth hole, salvaged a 1-over-par 71 despite hitting shots all over Oak Hill.

“I was trying to fight to keep it in play,’’ he said. “Even when I was making birdies it didn’t feel good. The first four holes were a shock to my system, hitting it out of bounds on four. Out of bounds is not even in play I hit it so far right. To make a double on a par 5, that’s the only hole that we can get to that’s a birdie hole. That was awful.

“It could really have gotten away. Friday will be the big day for me. I can get back into it, but I’ve got to come out and be more aggressive and attack and try to shoot something in the mid to low 60s to get back into it for the weekend.’’

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP : OAK HILL HOLE-BY-HOLE

* Lee Westwood has either truly found peace in his life or he is a good actor.

The Englishman, who is still seeking his first major championship after going 0-for-62 entering this week, is fresh off his failure to close his two-shot final-round lead last month at the British Open yet he insisted he isn’t down about it.

“After the Open, I could have looked upon it as disappointing, but as a golfer you take the positive out of it and carry on,’’ he said after shooting 66 yesterday to stand one shot off the lead. “I managed to get focused again this week and I felt very calm out there and in control.’’

Westwood said someone asked him last week: “Does it get you down and do you get stressed when people go on about you not winning a major championship?’’

“I said, ‘No. I really don’t get stressed about golf anymore. I’ve played golf for 20-odd years out here on the best courses in the world and I get up every day and go do something I love.’ Golf doesn’t stress me or disappoint me very often anymore. I can’t remember the last time it did. Just get on with it and realize how lucky you are. ’’

* Rob Labritz, the director of golf at GlenArbor in Bedford Hills, got off to a nightmarish start in yesterday’s opening round of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill and never recovered, shooting a 78.

Labritz, who was the low club pro at the 2010 PGA and is playing in his fourth PGA, is now a long shot to make the cut.

The best of the three Met Area club pros was Danny Balin, from Burning Tree in Greenwich, Conn. He shot an impressive 3-over-par 73 in the afternoon wave. Mark Brown, from Tam O’Shanter on Long Island, shot 77.

Labritz played in the first group and struck the first shot of the tournament at 7:10 a.m. He hit a good tee shot and everything went bad from there. He doubled the first, bogeyed the second and shot 43 on the front nine.

“I hit the first shot fine, down the right side, a little draw,’’ Labritz said. “I’m standing 175 yards, 178 yards to the flag, which is a smooth little 7”‘iron for me. The sun was just coming up and it was pretty brutal. I hit the shot, had no idea where it went. I felt it good off the club face. I asked my caddie, ‘Where did it go?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know.’

“So we’re looking up on the green and as I get close and I see it wedged below the lip [of a bunker]. I had to wedge it out sideways. I hit a pretty good pitch shot out of the rough and unfortunately missed the putt. Then the next hole, I get up on the tee and I was a little nervous. You have something like that happen to you and you are like, ‘OK, but you have got enough holes left.’ I’ve played in enough tournaments.’’

* U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, who played with Mickelson and co-leader Adam Scott, shot 68. … Bo Van Pelt withdrew after shooting 80 yesterday, citing a hip injury.