Phil Mickelson flirts with 59 in first round of 2019

Phil Mickelson begins his 2019 season by almost shooting 59 in the first round of the Desert Classic on Thursday

Phil Mickelson admitted before teeing off in the Desert Classic that his game was “rusty.” He certainly didn’t play like it on Thursday.

Mickelson, in his first round of the 2019 PGA Tour season, shot 12-under 60 at La Quinta Country Club to take a four-shot lead at the Desert Classic.

The 48-year-old Mickelson hadn’t played a competitive round on the PGA Tour since October. He began his season with four birdies and an eagle on the front nine, going out in six-under 30.

His hot start continued on his second nine. He holed a lengthy birdie putt at the 10th, got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for birdie at the par-five 13th, then chipped in for another birdie at 14. After a birdie at the 16th to get to 11-under for the round, Mickelson needed to birdie the last two holes to shoot 59. His 18-foot attempt at the 17th, however, slid past the cup and he settled for par.

Recovering to birdie the 18th, Mickelson became the first player in PGA Tour history with three career rounds of 60 or lower.

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He is the first to admit he wasn’t expecting much out of his round today after such a lengthy layoff. “I really didn’t think this was going to be a day that I was going to go low. I came in with very low expectations,” he said at his post-round press conference. “I felt like all areas [of his game] were okay, but you never really know until you get out and play and compete.”

Mickelson is a two-time champion of this event, having won in 2002 and 2004; he missed the cut last year.

The time off wasn’t the only thing that made Mickelson’s low round unlikely. He finished the 2018 season on a long drought. After winning his first PGA Tour title in nearly five years at the WGC-Mexico Championship in March, Mickelson’s last top-10 came in May. In the meantime, he had to endure the controversy surrounding his U.S. Open blunder, when he hit a moving ball on the green at Shinnecock Hills, the publicity of The Match against Tiger Woods, and a disappointing Ryder Cup where he failed to collect a point for Team USA.

Mickelson, though, is more focused on what lies ahead in 2019 than in reliving the disappointing end to his 2018 campaign. “Those were all last year. That was all 2018,” he said. “So we’re starting fresh. And right now it’s a good start.”

Australian Curtis Luck and 31-year-old rookie Adam Long are Mickelson’s closest challengers after round one at eight-under, four off the lead. Defending champion Jon Rahm is at six-under, while World No. 1 Justin Rose shot four-under.

The Desert Classic is played over three courses in California’s Coachella Valley in La Quinta. Along with La Quinta Country Club, players alternate between the Stadium Course and the Nicklaus Tournament Course for the first three rounds.

Mickelson plays the Nicklaus course Friday at 8:40 a.m. local time (11:40 a.m. EST) with Aaron Wise.