LA QUINTA, Calif.
Phil Mickelson hit his opening tee shot so poorly in morning rain and cold that he hit a provisional ball just to get in another swing.
He scrambled to par the hole and went on to shoot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in the CareerBuilder Challenge, leaving him four strokes back in his return from two sports hernia surgeries.
Tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli shot a 64 on the Stadium Course at PGA West — the most difficult of the three courses — to top the leaderboard. He holed out from 115 yards for eagle on the par-4 14th.
Jhonattan Vegas, the 2011 champion, was a stroke back at 65 along with Harold Varner III, Hudson Swafford and Patton Kizzire. Vegas and Kizzire played PGA West’s Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, and Varner and Swafford opened at La Quinta.
Rain fell off and on in the morning and more was expected Friday, with the PGA Tour moving the tee times up an hour.
The 46-year-old Mickelson had surgery Oct. 19 — three days after tying for eighth in the season-opening Safeway Open — and again Dec. 12.
Mickelson won the 2002 and 2004 events.
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