SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Rickie Fowler overcame some bad shots for a share of the lead Thursday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Phil Mickelson compounded his mistakes and fell back.
Phoenix Open Leading Scores
Thursday At TPC Scottsdale, Stadium Course Scottsdale, Ariz. Purse: $6.5 million Yardage: 7,266; Par: 71 (35-36) Partial First Round Rickie Fowler 33-32-65 Shane Lowry 34-31-65 Hideki Matsuyama 33-32-65 Anirban Lahiri 34-32-66 Danny Lee 34-33-67 James Hahn 34-33-67 Greg Owen 32-35-67 Brooks Koepka 34-33-67 Brandt Snedeker 32-35-67 Tyrone Van Aswegen 33-35-68 Blayne Barber 33-35-68 Daniel Berger 35-33-68 Ryan Moore 33-35-68 Webb Simpson 34-34-68 Keegan Bradley 33-35-68 Ben Crane 34-34-68 Harris English 34-34-68 Will Wilcox 35-33-68 Daniel Summerhays 35-33-68 Kevin Na 33-35-68 Chad Campbell 36-32-68 Bo Van Pelt 34-34-68 Kevin Chappell 34-34-68 Brett Stegmaier 33-35-68 Aaron Baddeley 36-32-68 Martin Laird 34-35-69 Jon Curran 36-33-69 Colt Knost 37-32-69 Charlie Beljan 33-36-69 Phil Mickelson 38-31-69 Chesson Hadley 33-36-69 Matt Jones 34-35-69 John Huh 34-35-69 Patton Kizzire 34-35-69 William McGirt 34-35-69 Steve Wheatcroft 34-35-69 Scott Brown 34-35-69 Kyle Stanley 34-35-69 Bubba Watson 34-35-69 Steve Stricker 35-34-69 Charles Howell III 34-36-70 Si Woo Kim 34-36-70 Harold Varner III 34-36-70 Ryan Palmer 35-35-70 Matt Every 35-35-70 Robert Streb 34-36-70 Camilo Villegas 35-35-70 Alex Cejka 34-36-70 Ben Martin 37-33-70 Michael Kim 34-36-70 Mark Hubbard 34-36-70 Chez Reavie 35-35-70 Scott Stallings 35-35-70 Tony Finau 35-36-71 Kevin Kisner 37-34-71 Jason Dufner 35-36-71 Geoff Ogilvy 33-38-71 Patrick Rodgers 36-35-71 Whee Kim 35-36-71 Brendon de Jonge 34-37-71 Jeff Overton 36-35-71 Peter Malnati 34-37-71 Hunter Mahan 35-36-71 Retief Goosen 36-35-71 Jason Bohn 35-37-72 Shawn Stefani 37-35-72 Charley Hoffman 37-35-72 Jim Herman 36-36-72 Pat Perez 37-35-72 Carl Pettersson 36-36-72 Brendan Steele 36-36-72 Graham DeLaet 36-36-72 Morgan Hoffmann 35-37-72 Jason Kokrak 35-37-72 Justin Thomas 35-37-72 K.J. Choi 36-36-72 Spencer Levin 37-36-73 J.J. Henry 38-35-73 Zach Johnson 37-36-73 Nick Taylor 35-38-73 Russell Henley 37-36-73 John Senden 36-37-73 Scott Pinckney 34-39-73 Chris Stroud 38-35-73 Adam Hadwin 36-37-73 Angel Cabrera 37-36-73 Billy Horschel 38-35-73 David Hearn 35-39-74 Smylie Kaufman 36-38-74 Zac Blair 37-37-74 Brendon Todd 35-39-74 Padraig Harrington 37-37-74 Andres Gonzales 39-36-75 Ken Duke 39-36-75 Tyler Aldridge 38-38-76 Justin Leonard 38-38-76 Kyle Reifers 38-38-76 Troy Merritt 35-42-77 Erik Compton WDWhile Fowler finished with a 6-under 65 to tie Shane Lowry and Hideki Matsuyama for the lead in the suspended first round, Mickelson had a 69 after dropping four strokes in a two-hole stretch.
"I made some good putts to start," Fowler said. "Just kind of got everything going. Made a couple of bad swings. Cost me a little bit, but other than that, nice way to get off to a good start."
Mickelson bogeyed the par-3 fourth after hitting short and right and failing to reach the green with his second, and unraveled with a triple bogey on the par-4 fifth. He drove out of bounds to the right, hit his second tee shot into the right bunker and three-putted from 50 feet.
"I hit a bad shot at the wrong time," Mickelson said. "It's the tightest hole out there. You miss the fairway 5 yards left, you're in the wash, in the hazard. You miss it right of the bunker, you're out of bounds. ... I'm not going to dwell on the one bad one because there were really a lot of good ones."
The best one was on the par-5 13th-his fourth hole of the day-when he hit a 252-yard hybrid approach to 2 1/2 feet to set up an eagle.
Winless in 48 events since the 2013 British Open, the 45-year-old former Arizona State player is working with swing coach Andrew Getson after splitting with Butch Harmon. Lefty tied for third two weeks ago at La Quinta in his season debut and missed the cut last week at Torrey Pines.
"When you don't score as low as you feel like you're playing, it can be frustrating, but for me, I find it to be more encouraging that I'm making a lot of birdies," said Mickelson, the tournament winner in 1996, 2005 and 2013.
Fowler also missed the cut at Torrey Pines after winning the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi the previous week. He has four worldwide victories in the last nine months.
"I know I have been swinging well and playing well," Fowler said. "I just didn't make anything last week."
Fowler opened with a birdie on the par-4 10th as the temperature crawled into the 40s, holing a 16-foot putt. He made a 35-footer on the 12th, two-putted for birdie on the 13th and made a 28-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th after hitting a 258-yard shot over the water.
"I had a good number in there," Fowler said. "Actually, put a 5-wood in play last week, a new one."
The top-ranked player in the field at No. 4, Fowler bogeyed the par-3 16th after drawing an awkward lie in the right bunker. He birdied the short par-4 17th, and bogeyed the par-4 18th after driving left into the water. On his back nine, he got up-and-down for birdie from a greenside bunker on the par-5 third and closed with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth.
Lowry birdied seven of his first 13 holes, then bogeyed the next two.
"I got to 7 under and just became a little bit tense there," the Irishman said. "That's something that I need to work on. ... It's a bad mistake if you don't learn from it."
Matsuyama was in one of the last groups to finish before play was stopped because of darkness.
India's Anirban Lahiri was a stroke back at 66, and Bryce Molder also was 5 under with two holes left. He was one of 33 players who failed to finish.
Bubba Watson opened with a 69, finishing in fading light a day after saying he doesn't like the renovated course and is only playing the tournament out of loyalty to his sponsors. The two-time Masters champion tied for second the last two seasons.
DIVOTS: The crowd was estimated at 101,021. The first-round record of 118,461 was set last year with Tiger Woods in the field. ... Defending champion Brooks Koepka had a 67 playing alongside Watson. ... Brandt Snedeker, the winner Monday at Torrey Pines, also had a 67. ... Jason Dufner had a 71 in his first start since winning at La Quinta.