SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Playing for the first time since his bizarre alleged kidnapping incident in Hawaii, Robert Allenby shot a 1-under 70 on Thursday in the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at the TPC of Scottsdale.
He said earlier in the week he expected this week to be among the toughest mentality he ever has dealt with. But he heard just a few boos and comments from the gallery at the notoriously raucous par-3 16th.
“I felt a little bit nervous on the first nine holes, just understandable with what’s been going on,’’ he said. “It’s very hard to put it all to the side when you’re out there. I tried my absolute best, and I think I did a really, really good job overall.
“I was a little bit nervous going into 16 [the stadium-like par-3]. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I just knew it was going to be loud. I was just like, ‘You know what? Just go with the flow and have fun with it. Don’t let it get to you.’
“They were actually really good. I was actually really surprised. There was nothing mean at all. So, you know, I haven’t done anything wrong to anyone. I was super happy to finish under par.’’
He played through headaches.
“For some reason I had really bad headaches in my left eye before I teed off and I don’t know if that was just nerves, anticipation, what it was,” Allenby said. “But I took some [pain relievers], just to sort of take the edge off a little bit. It sort of went away a little bit. But it was there. It could be allergies, as well, with the desert.”
Allenby bogeyed the par-4 11th — his second hole of the day — after hitting his approach over the green, birdied the par-5 13th with a delicate downhill chip to 3 feet, and bogeyed the 16th after hitting into the right front bunker. On his final nine, he made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth and a 14-footer on the par-4 sixth.
With the first round suspended at 5:45 p.m. local time Thursday due to darkness, Ryan Palmer was the leader in the clubhouse, shooting a 7-under par 64. The first round will be completed Friday morning.
“Obviously my confidence is high,’’ Palmer said. “After last year’s Tour Championship [tie for seventh], I told myself, ‘We’re just getting started.’ ”
Palmer has a tie for 17th at the Sony Open this year, and he tied for 10th last week at the Humana Challenge.
“I have more to prove,’’ he said.
The Comeback Player of the Day was Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson, who started on the 10th hole, got off to a miserable start with a bogey on his first hole of the day and a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 15th hole left him 3-over par through his first six holes.
He rallied with birdies on 17 and 18 to make the turn at 1-over then carded birdies on Nos. 3, 8 and 9 to finish the day with a 2-under-par 69, just four shots off the lead.
Mickelson’s worst hole was 15, where he hit two balls in the water.
Asked if he “had a little talk’’ with himself after 15, Mickelson said, “Yeah. I felt like I was a little anxious starting the round, because I felt like my game was really where I wanted it to be. I feel like I’m driving the ball well and hitting some good shots.
“I came out and I just made a bunch of dumb mistakes and I’m 3-over. I made a birdie on 17 and followed with one on 18, and that really turned the round back around. I ended up playing the front nine really solid with 3-under and hit a lot of good shots.
“This was an important thing for me, because I’m in a position now if I get hot [Friday] I can get right back in it.’’
Mickelson maintained he is feeling the best he has “in a long time, in years, even.
“My swing speed has been coming back,’’ he said. “I have been able to finish the rounds off with energy and strength and stamina as opposed to getting tired, so it’s been a good thing.’’
With AP