The big left-hander, a three-times Masters champion, blazed through his first nine holes in five-under 31 on the way to his lowest round since January to move into contention.
He chipped in on his first hole, the short par-4 10th, hit driver on the 338-yard, par-four 12th hole about 20 yards short of the green and chipped close for birdie, then nearly holed a bunker shot at the par-five 13th for another easy birdie.
"My short game actually was what threw away so many shots (last week). I spent the last three days working on that," said Mickelson, who finished tied for 30th at last week's Texas Open.
"So I was able to turn that around in a few days and the game feels pretty good."
Mickelson has yet to finish better than 17th in six starts this season and has had just two top-10s since winning the British Open in 2013.
But the lefty has a way of rising up at Augusta.
"This is a big week for me," Mickelson said. "I felt the game was close last week. The only thing missing was chipping and short game.
"If I can play well this week...it should be some good momentum for next week."
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
Share
