The Phoenix Open is live and starting up on Thursday and viewers can watch the stream online for the PGA Tour Waste Management golf tournament and Phil Mickelson is playing and defining his title at the tourney despite dealing with a bad back and he tees off in the morning and tee times continue throughout the day, while names like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are halfway around the world at the Dubai Desert Classic.
In the early goings, Ricky Barnes the bad boy of the tour is leading things and Mickelson just teed off and will be looking to get back on track after having to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open after dealing with a back injury and now he hopes to have things go smoothly over the next few days as he tries to win this for a second year in a row. Mickelson said he feels much better and it comes after both Mick and Tiger Woods struggled last week, both not making it to Sunday and now Woods is in Dubai at four under looking to get back on track and this comes after he won five times on tour last year and took back his number one ranking.
Mickelson won the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale last season after putting up an amazing score with a first round of 11 under and he had a 60 and he ended up with a score of 28 under and now he is hoping to keep things going here on Thursday.
Check here for the PGA Tour live coverage of the Waste Management Open.
Here is a look at the Dubai Desert Classic with Tiger Woods playing and Rory McIlroy leading early and here is a recap from Reuters.com. McIlroy hit a sizzling nine-under 63 in the opening round of the $2.5 million Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday, bolstering his hopes of claiming a first European tour win since 2012.
Playing the back nine holes first, the Northern Irishman was unperturbed by a 0405 GMT (tee-off time, reaching the turn at five-under after sinking a quintet of birdies from the 12th to the 18th.
He rattled in an eagle at the par-five third hole with a 25-foot putt and picked up two further shots in a blemish-free round on the Majlis course.
Playing partner Tiger Woods kept pace initially to be four-under after nine holes, but then sunk nine successive pars to finish on 68, five behind his rival.
It could have been even better for the 24-year-old, who missed a six-foot putt on the opening hole and lipped out another birdie attempt on the fifth hole. Had those gone he could have equaled the course record of 61.
McIlroy has fond memories of Dubai, claiming his first European tour victory at this event in 2009 and also winning 2012's DP World Tour Championship to become only the second golfer to top the money list in both Europe and United States in the same season.
These achievements helped McIlroy become world number one, but he endured a tough 2013, rarely troubling the leaderboard as he sunk to sixth in the rankings.
The twice major winner has begun to find his form again, winning the Australian Open in December and finishing joint-second at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship earlier this month, with four top-10 finishes in his past five events on the European Tour.
"Getting back to world No. 1, it's a by-product of playing well, giving yourself chances to win tournaments. If I finish second in every tournament from now to the end of the year, I would be world No. 1, I won't be happy: I wouldn't have won," added McIlroy.
World number one Woods said he was relieved to sink a birdie on his opening hole in Dubai, his first competitive golf since last week's dire 79 at California's Torrey Pines, the second-worst round of his professional career.
The 38-year-old found the sand with alarming regularity but was still able to pick up further shots at 13, 15 and 18.
He found it harder going as overcast skies gave way to piercing desert sunshine, missing a 10-foot birdie chance at the second in a barren last nine holes.
(Reuters)
