Every golfer knows that 18 holes of golf are sometimes just not enough. Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, and Kyle Stanley sure do. It seems the foursome played 18 holes of emergency golf Thursday after each finished his opening round of the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.
The Rules of Golf prohibit players from practicing on the competition course between rounds during a stroke-play contest involving two or more rounds on consecutive days. Rather than breach Rule 7.1b, the guys had to leave the premises to feed their golf addictions, so they repaired to Whisper Rock Golf Club, an ultra-private Scottsdale track that Mickelson designed.
The extra holes seemed not to deplete the energy of 23-year-old Rickie (2-under through 10 on Friday, 4-under for the tourney), but the extracurricular activities may have taken their toll on Phil’s 41-year-old legs. After 10 on Friday, Lefty was one shot clear of the projected cut line at 1-under for the week (2-over for the day). He seemed to be heading in the right direction, with a birdie on 10, but he proceeded to rinse his tee shot on 11 and was in danger of missing his second consecutive cut after bombing out of last week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
Stanley, who lost a heart-breaker on the second playoff hole last week at Torrey Pines, and DJ, apparently recovered from off-season knee surgery, were at 2-under and 5-under, respectively, for the week, midway through their second rounds. They were all playing for second place, though, as clubhouse leader Spencer Levin fired a flawless 8-under 63 in his second round to take a 14-under into the weekend.
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