Mickelson well placed in chasing pack

It seemed for a while that Phil Mickelson, the reigning "Best-Never," was going to be leading this 83rd PGA Championship. Then he ran afoul of the nasty 18th, so he seemed a lock to be tied for the lead, and who wasn't?

Then Grant Waite came from nowhere and birdied it, and so Mickelson ended the first round in that rush-hour traffic jam tied for second at 4-under-par 66. All in all, he thought, not a bad day's work.

Mickelson could miss the state lottery by one number and rejoice. Accordingly, he shrugged off the bogey at 18 that cost him at least solo second place and maybe a tie for the lead.

"I didn't really look at 18 as being that big a deal because I made bogey," he said. "And it also happened to be one of the six tougher holes."

The 18th is the Godzilla hole at the Atlanta Athletic Club. It's a 490-yard par 4, a slight dogleg left with a big pond smack in front of the green. It's a lay-up hole for short hitters and for anyone driving into the rough, which was what Mickelson did, pulling a 3-wood. It was no time to roll the dice, not with the ball in heavy grass.

"I just didn't think the ball was going to come out well," Mickelson said. "I didn't feel like I had a choice. I felt like I had to lay up."

He did, then hit a wedge across the pond to within 15 feet of the hole, and two-putted for his bogey. That dropped him into a nine-way tie for second at 66.

The along came New Zealander Grant Waite, and all he did in his last six outings was miss the cut five times and withdraw once. And at the 18th, he zings his approach to 19 feet and holes the putt for a birdie, a 64, and a two-shot lead.

While Waite has been barely surviving, Mickelson has inherited the "Best Never To Have Won A Major" tag, which hangs around a guy's neck like a manhole cover. But he hasa goal. He doesn't merely want to win, he wants to win by -- well, decisively.

"I'm trying to win by a certain number of shots," Mickelson said.

The number?

"I'm not going to say. Doesn't sound good."

He wants a cushion, he revealed. In case things get sticky down the stretch, say, he wants something in reserve.

He started that way Thursday. At No. 2, he hit a 6-iron from 170 yards to the back edge and chipped in for a birdie. He eagled No. 5, a 541-yarder, covering the last 239 with a 3-iron to five feet. He birdied No. 7 from seven feet, and just like that he was four under for seven holes, matching the guys who had already finished and were bunching up in the lead.

Mickelson moseyed along till the 13th, where he got to five under with a birdie from 10 feet. From there, it was a duel with Waite, who was three groups behind. Until the 18th.

Some critics have said that Mickelson plays too recklessly, and that that's what has kept him from winning a coveted major. Not so, Mickelson said.

"I think that execution has been the factor," he said.

"I've been asked a number of questions about winning majors and so forth, and having not won one," he added. "It's difficult for me to focus on that because it doesn't allow me to play my best. Certainly I would love to break through this week.

"But if that were my thought process, I would not allow myself the ability to play myself," he explained. "What I need to focus on is getting myself in contention right now. The first three days, I'm just trying to get into contention."

Then he was coaxed into revealing that goal.

"Well," he said, "I don't want to come down the stretch and have one shot here or there be critical. I want to have a comfort zone."

He declined to say how comfortable he wants to be.

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