By Ali Stafford
Last updated: 8/26/20 9:54 am
Phil Mickelson approaches a winning debut with the PGA Tour Champions
Phil Mickelson is on pole for a successful start to his career as a PGA Tour Champion after building a four-shot lead in the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National.
Mickelson, who turned 50 in June, is making his senior track debut after missing the cut at the Northern Trust on Friday and failing to qualify for the final two events of the FedExCup playoffs.
The five-time major champion continued his opening round 61 on Tuesday with a seven-under-64 to drop to 17 in the week and build a commanding lead over next challengers Rod Pampling and Tim Petrovic.
Mickelson will play alongside Pampling and Petrovic in the final round on Wednesday
“I got some good shots, got some good birdies, but I want to work on a few things,” Mickelson said. “I ran into a couple of drives that I got stuck on a bit and that I want to work on.”
Mickelson screwed five of his first seven holes and saved a bogey on par-four tithing after losing his ball off the tee, before adding a two-putt birdie on the next par-5 and more strokes on 12th and 14th picked up.
Mickelson plans to play the Safeway Open next month before playing the US Open at Winged Foot
In a final lap of 65 or better, Mickelson breaks the PGA Tour Champions’ 54-hole record of 191 jointly held by David Frost, Bruce Fleisher, Loren Roberts, Bernhard Langer and Rocco Mediate.
Former PGA champion and Sky Sports expert Rich Beem, who also made his debut on the Monday after his 50th birthday, is in 65th place after carding a par 71 level.
The start times were brought forward on Wednesday due to the threat of bad weather. Mickelson starts at 9:10 a.m. local time (3:10 p.m. CET).
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