Mickelson Out After Second 75

The biggest goof Phil Mickelson made in the Nissan Open wasn’t choosing the wrong iron or misreading a putt. Mickelson said the biggest mistake he made was showing up at Riviera Country Club.

“I knew I shouldn’t have played here,” Mickelson said Friday after signing a scorecard that showed his second consecutive 75.

Mickelson’s eight-over-par 150 missed the cut by five shots.

“Mentally I just wasn’t ready to play,” he said. “I just didn’t have the proper attitude to do well.”

Mickelson has played five of the first eight weeks of the schedule. He is the leading money winner on the PGA Tour with $603,650 and won tournaments at Tucson and Phoenix. But he hasn’t ever played Riviera well. He missed the cut at last year’s Nissan Open and then again at the PGA Championship last August.

“I know I haven’t done well here and I don’t know why,” he said. “I really like the place, though.

“You want to keep playing when you’re playing well, but I just can’t play at this level every single week.

“You need to have time off to recover and be focused and be mentally ready.”

Mickelson is committed to playing in the Doral-Ryder Open next week at Miami, then will take some time off.

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Mickelson was joined on the sideline by Woody Austin and Justin Leonard, who were at five-over 147.

Both amateurs in the field also missed the cut. Brian Hull of USC was at 12-over 154 and 16-year-old Jin Park of Fullerton, a Sunny Hills High junior, finished at 156.

The Southern California PGA’s two qualifiers did not make the cut, but both acquitted themselves well.

Randy Peterson, teaching pro at Alondra Park, shot 75-72--147, and Brad Sherfy, head coach at UCLA, had 76-74--150.

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Joel Edwards had a hole in one to spice his round of 69 to finish 36 holes at one-under-par 141. The former North Texas State golfer used a seven-iron to ace the 161-yard sixth hole--the one with a trap in the center of the green.

It was the second hole in one of the tournament. Glen Day made one Thursday with a five-iron on the 173-yard 14th hole.

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After shooting a one-over-par 36 on the front nine, Billy Mayfair caught fire and made five birdies on the incoming nine for a 31. It was only two shots off the tournament-record back nine 29 made by Charlie Sifford on the much easier Rancho Park municipal course in 1969.

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Leader Robert Wrenn had to go through qualifying to get back on the tour, but that didn’t prepare him for this.

“It’ll be a completely different kind of pressure because at tour school, you realize it means a whole year,” he said. “This is a little more moment to moment, so you have to try to keep yourself focused on the present.

“If you fall asleep out here, it’s easy to make a quick bogey or double bogey and the scoreboard is so bunched up, it’s pretty tight.”

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Warmer weather and bright sunshine helped bring out a crowd of 21,570 for the second day of the tournament. Thursday’s opening day, much colder and harsher, had an announced attendance of 8,000.