Phil Mickelson off to solid start

He was even par, which he made sound like one of the more impressive US Open rounds in history. Because it very well might have been.

Which is an indication of exactly how difficult the Black Course at Bethpage State Park has been set up for the 2002 US Open.

Phil Mickelson was even par yesterday, 70. After, playing the back nine first, he opened birdie, birdie on 10 and 11, arguably two of the three toughest holes. And he also had two more birdies, at 13 and eight, four in all.

But he had two bogeys and at the 459-yard 15th a double-bogey six, a score that left him dumbfounded, especially since his chip landed near the pin. "Unfortunately," Mickelson said, "the pin was on a high spot and the ball rolled back to me. It should have stopped three feet away, and it stopped 12 feet away."

Should have, could have, that is the golfer's lament. And by the time this week is done, there will be a great deal of lamenting.

"I think," Mickelson said, "this is the hardest US Open test we've played. We had perfect conditions, no wind, soft conditions on the greens, and still the scores are high."

Then he missed on a couple of numbers the way he missed on a couple of shots. "If the wind picks up, and if the greens firm up," Mickelson said, "we are looking at Winged Foot in 77, when I believed eight or 10-under would win it."

He meant Winged Foot in 74 when seven-over par won it for Hale Irwin, not seven-under. And it is interesting that Winged Foot, maybe 50 miles away, was designed by A W Tillinghast, who also designed Bethpage Black.

"I felt like I played great to shoot par," Mickelson said. He is very much in the tournament, two shots behind the early leader, Sergio Garcia, and again faced with the question whether he will finally break through and win a major.

Second to Tiger Woods in the world rankings, second to Tiger Woods in the PGA Tour money standings, Mickelson is 0-for-35 as a professional in majors. No matter what he has done or what he does, he will be dogged by that failure until he ends it. If he ends it.

Mickelson will win the sympathy vote by a landslide this week. For someone who has won plenty of prize money, card games in Las Vegasand a pretty blonde on his wedding day, Mickelson is known all too well for not winning a major.

He was second by a stroke to the late Payne Stewart in the 1999 US Open, but each time he becomes the nearly man the media makes as much of his not winning as of someone else winning.

Does the agony conclude at Bethpage? In three more rounds we will know.