Phil Mickelson gets off to good start, gets heckled in opening round at LACC

LOS ANGELES – Given his colorful history at the U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson was pleased with his 1-under 69 to start the week at Los Angeles Country Club. Whether he’s pleased with the state of professional golf remains unknown.

Mickelson managed to get to 3 under for the round through 13 holes but bogeyed Nos. 6 and 7 (he started on No. 10). He concluded his round with a par at the ninth, where he had to back off a putt after being heckled by a fan for more than 30 seconds. He finished the day in a tie for 25th and well off the lead held by Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler.

Full-field scores from U.S. Open

“The course is a great setup. They moved some tees up and they put some pins where they allowed us to get off to a good start,” said Mickelson, who has never won the U.S. Open but has six runner-up finishes in the national championship. “But it will play a lot harder as we go on.”

Last week’s announcement that the PGA Tour had reached a “framework” agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabi, however, was not something he was interested in addressing.

“I don’t want to detract right now from this tournament and where I’m at,” Mickelson said. “I’m playing well, I want to get myself in contention and I really don’t want to [talk]. I’ll talk about it maybe after [the tournament].”

Mickelson joined LIV Golf last year and has been an outspoken critic of the Tour and its leadership.