Phil Mickelson thought his 25-footer for a 59 was going in. So did caddie Jim Mackay, playing partners Jason Dufner and Rickie Fowler, and the fans packed around the ninth green at TPC Scottsdale.

Lefty even pointed his putter at the cup and started walking toward the hole, ready to celebrate golf’s magic number. Then, right at the end, the ball caught the right edge of the cup, curled 180 degrees to the other side of the hole and stayed out. A fraction of inch turned cheers to gasps Thursday in the first round of the Phoenix Open.

“Six feet to go, it was in the center,” Mickelson said. “Three feet to go, it was in the center. A foot to go, it was in the center, and even as it’s approaching the hole, I couldn’t envision which side of the hole it could possibly miss on, and it ended up somehow just dying off at the end, catching the lip.”

Mackay fell to his knees and stayed there several seconds.

Dufner and Fowler also watched in disbelief when the putt lipped out.

Mickelson settled for an 11-under 60 at TPC Scottsdale, matching the tournament record he already shared with Grant Waite and Mark Calcavecchia.

Finishing his round on the front nine, the 42-yearold former Arizona State star birdied the par-3 seventh to reach 11 under.

He parred the par-4 eighth, leaving an 18-footer a rotation short.

On the par-4 ninth, he split the fairway with a 325- yard drive and hit a gap wedge left of the pin, with the ball spinning to an immediate stop.

He was thinking about breaking 60 after making the turn in 7-under 29, a mark that tied the tournament record for the back nine.

Five players have shot 59 in official PGA Tour events. Al Geiberger did it in the 1977 Memphis Classic, Chip Beck in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational, David Duval in the 1999 Bob Hope Invitational, Paul Goydos in the 2010 John Deere Classic and Stuart Appleby in the 2010 Greenbrier Classic. Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa had the lowest round on a major tour, shooting a 12-under 58 to win the 2010 Crowns on the Japan Tour.