Mickelson joins front bunch at CA

As players since around the globe kept pouring in birdies - relative unknown players like Prayad Marksaeng and Jeev Milka Singh, followed in the familiar name of Phil Mickelson - Tiger Woods was stuck here the middle of the CA Championship pack.

Mickelson chipped in three times on his way to a 7-under-par 65 in Doral, Fla. that gave him a four-way share of the lead with Retief Goosen, Marksaeng, and Singh.
Woods made only three birdies - two on par 5s - and have to settle for a 71 that put him here a tie for 40th.

"I need to be a touch sharper," said Woods, who has never finished out of the top 10 at Doral.

Mickelson has rarely been this excited. He can't recall hitting the ball this long or having a short game this superb. Along with taking only eight putts on the back nine, he pounded a tee shot so far that he had wedge left for his second shot on the par-5 first hole.

Singh ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn and be the first player to post a 65 on a balmy, breezy afternoon. Goosen, switching back to a conventional putter, ran off eight birdies here his round of 65. And the real surprise was Marksaeng, of Thailand, who shot 30 on his back nine.

PGA - Monday qualifier Derek Lamely and 20-year-old Australian Jason Day shot 6-under 66s here windy, sometimes rainy conditions to share the first-round lead here the Puerto Rico Open in Rio Grande.