Getty Phil Mickelson during the opening round of the 2024 LIV Golf Invitational - Hong Kong.
Phil Mickelson posted the best finish of his LIV Golf career March 3 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, tying for sixth. Naturally, this led many (including himself) to believe good things were in store for the six-time major champion in Hong Kong.
But things really couldn’t have gone worse for Mickelson in the March 8 opening round on the par-70 layout at Hong Kong Golf Club. Not only does Lefty find himself 17 shots out of the lead after 18 holes, but he also finds himself in dead last among the 54 competitors in the field after firing a 10-over round of 80, good for the worst score of his LIV Golf career.
As for the second-worst score of the day? That belongs to Anthony Kim, who continues to struggle in his return to professional golf following a 12-year absence.
Phil Mickelson Shot the Worst Round of His LIV Golf Career in Hong Kong
Watch full highlights from Round 1 in Hong Kong 👇
After posting the worst overall finish of his LIV Golf career to kick off the 2024 season in Mexico, tying for 51st, Mickelson has progressively improved.
He tied for 30th in Las Vegas and, as mentioned, tied for sixth this past week in Saudi Arabia, shooting 10-under. Following his strong week in Jeddah, the 53-year-old said he was feeling good about his game.
“Yeah, it just reaffirms that I knew I was close,” Mickelson stated. “I’ve been hitting quality shots. This doesn’t feel like a fluke. It wasn’t like I hit shots I haven’t been hitting. I stayed present and didn’t make loose swings or those bad swings at an inopportune time. I stayed very present and calm throughout, then executed and had a blast.”
But given his opening-round performance in Hong Kong, it certainly doesn’t seem Mickelson was as close as he thought.
Beginning his day on the second hole of the short and narrow 6,700-yard layout, Phil played decently enough to start, shooting just 1-over through his first seven holes, his lone hiccup being a bogey at the par-5 third hole.
But his day unraveled from there as he made three bogeys and three double-bogeys over his final 11 holes to shoot a 10-over 80, putting him 17 shots back of co-leaders Dean Burmester and Abraham Ancer.
Prior to the round, Mickelson’s worst score in relation to par during his run in LIV Golf was 6-over, which he shot during the second round in Mayakoba last month and in the final round of the first-ever LIV tourney in London in June 2022.
Anthony Kim Continues to Struggle in His Return to Pro Golf
Anthony Kim now +22 over his first 4 rounds on LIV Golf.
Anthony Kim didn’t give fans much to get excited about in his highly anticipated return to the professional ranks in Jeddah, shooting 76-76-74 to finish in last place at 16-over.
And the three-time PGA Tour winner continued to look rusty in Hong Kong, shooting a 6-over round of 76, tied for the second-worst score of the day behind Mickelson with Hudson Swafford.
Starting his day on the par-4 10th, Kim was 4-over through four holes and simply couldn’t recover. He made his lone birdie of the round on the 288-yard, par-4 fourth hole but followed it up with three bogeys over his final five holes.