Phil Mickelson has a rough day with a 73

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — At one point, Phil Mickelson could be heard asking a British Open rules official if something in the fine print would free him from hitting a ball he couldn’t see.

Later on, he had caddie Jim Mackay fish out a glove for his uncovered hand.

It was that kind of odd day for Mickelson, whose three-over-par 73 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes left him girding for a battle to make the cut.

“I putted poorly,” Mickelson summed up, “and I drove it horrific and the chipping was below average.”

Hmm, not much left to cover there.

On a course softened for birdies, Mickelson frequently found adventures in the one area that wasn’t easing up — the knee-high rough. He asked the rules question while standing in deep fescue at No. 3, hit out of the rough twice on the way to a double bogey on No. 7, then had to declare an uplayable lie at No. 8 when his bunker shot barely cleared the lip and disappeared into the deep grass.

“It was just a tough day for me,” he said, “when I was not hitting the ball in the fairway.”

As for the second glove? A rainy-day move to help him keep a better hold on wet grips.

Steady Tom

Another British Open for Tom Watson, another solid start.

The 62-year-old Hall of Famer began his 35th Open with a 71 — his second-best score at a venue that hasn’t been all that friendly to the five-time Open champion over the years.

“This course has frustrated me, I can tell you,” said Watson, a bit irritated after bogeys at Nos. 16 and 18 denied him a round in the 60s. “But 71 is a pretty good score for Watson on this links.”

Watson’s only better round at Royal Lytham was a 68 in the second round in 1979.

Don’t go there

Sergio Garcia, beaten down over the years by serving as Tiger Woods’ foil, couldn’t have been happy to see he’d been drawn with Woods for the first two rounds. Certainly the Spaniard wasn’t thrilled to take a question about him after shooting a 72, five shots higher than Woods.

“How do I feel he played? I don’t know,” Garcia said. “It doesn’t matter what I think. He’ll tell you better what he thinks.”

Tap-ins

Rory McIlroy beaned a spectator with an errant drive at No. 15 hard enough that the man stayed down for several minutes. McIlroy felt some pain too — the carom flew out of bounds, forcing him back to the tee and resulting in a double bogey. … Russ Cochran, winner of last year’s Senior British Open, withdrew before his round because of a bad back. Michael Thompson, who tied for second in the U.S. Open at Olympic Club, took his place and shot a 74. … Ernie Els’ opening 67 marked the 37th time he broke 70 in a British Open, matching Nick Faldo’s record.