UNIVERSITY PLACE — At a golf tournament, the sounds tell the stories.
Thursday at the U.S. Open, good shots produced roars that couldn’t be smothered by the sandy slopes of Chambers Bay.
After poor shots, groans filtered through the foot-high fescue.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were serenaded by different tunes Thursday.
Several times in a solid 1-under-par first round, Mickelson heard a familiar crescendo from the large choir that followed him.
It started with whispers as a putt was struck, then erupted in exaltations after the ball fell into the hole.
Woods heard a different chorus as he struggled through a 10-over-par round that left him 152nd in the 156-player field. He trails 16 amateurs including 15-year-old Cole Hammer, who bested him by three strokes.
When a horribly mishit 3-wood shot landed in the 11-foot-deep bunker in the 18th fairway known as Chambers Basement, his golf game may have hit rock bottom.
From his large legion of followers, the “Go Tiger” shouts were more consoling than celebratory in tone. Fans hoping to see the return of Triumphant Tiger instead saw the next stop on the Trainwreck Tiger tour.
“The bright side is at least I kicked Rickie’s butt today,” joked Woods, referring to playing partner Rickie Fowler’s 11-over debacle.
As the two best golfers of a generation, Woods and Mickelson will always be linked. Yet they have never seemed farther apart than on Thursday.
Mickelson continues to find ways to remain near the top of the leaderboard.
Woods just looks lost.
Mickelson’s stats weren’t anything spectacular. He hit nine of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens. His 1.72 putts per hole ranked 93rd in the field.
But Mickelson’s uncanny ability to escape trouble around the greens was in vintage form. It’s the same precision that has seen the 45-year-old win five majors and finish second 10 times, including this year’s Masters and last year’s PGA Championship.
On the first hole, he faced a blind pitch up a 20-foot slope. He knocked the shot within one foot for par, then rode that momentum to finish the front nine in 3-under.
Mickelson bogeyed holes 10, 13 and 14. But the last of those bogeys included what Mickelson called one of his best putts, a 15-footer to avoid double-bogey.
“You’re going to make bogeys,” he said. “Everyone is going to make bogeys. It’s the doubles you want to avoid.”
For Woods though, those bogeys added up. He had four in his first six holes.
He parred the eighth hole, but had the moment that summed up his round. After pushing his tee shot right onto a treacherous slope, his next swing saw his club slip out of his hand and helicopter some 15 yards behind him.
Woods would never regain his grip on the round.
Can Woods regain his grip on his game? That depends on how he handles the first bout of extended failure in his golf career, which has now seen him fail to break 80 in consecutive rounds. For all the talk about swing mechanics and coaching changes, it’s obvious most of Woods’ problems are mental.
Mickelson has experienced failure. He has choked away majors. His swing mechanics have faltered. And he has emerged stronger for his struggles.
“I’ve always been somebody, ever since I was a kid, that got motivated by failure, that worked harder because of failure,” Mickelson said earlier this week. “Some people get discouraged by that, but for me it’s been a motivator to continue to work harder and get over that hump.”
Yes, the sounds told a story Thursday. The roars still ring for Mickelson.
While all Woods hears are echoes of past glory.
