Phil Mickelson continues his West Coast run at Pebble Beach Pro Am

For Phil Mickelson, day one of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am was the best of times and the worst of times.

Mickelson, a four-time winner of the event, played on three tracks over four days and got off to a shaggy start with a bogey on the par-5 first hole at Spyglass Hill, a course he brought to its knees with a first-round 62 back in 2005. It didn’t get much better on his front nine, as he added two more bogeys and a birdie for an opening 2-over 38.

Then he made the turn.

Mickelson, 47, seemed to turn back the clock on his incoming run, as he made birdie after birdie and ended up with five in nine holes, including one on the par-4 18th:

“It was a nice way to finish after not getting off to a great start,” Mickelson told Golf Channel after signing for a 3-under 69.

“It can be a difficult golf course but it’s also a course [that if] you play well, you’ll make some birdies,” said Lefty.

The five-time major winner knows whereof he speaks. Thirteen years ago, the then-30-something broke the course mark at Spyglass by making seven birdies and two eagles. Somehow a lone bogey on the par-4 seventh snuck onto his scorecard, but that was a mere speed bump on his record-setting day. (Luke Donald tied Mickelson with his own 10-under 62 a year later.)

Prior to that day in 2005, Mickelson entered the Pebble tourney on a serious roll, having tied the TPC Scottsdale course record with a second-round 60 on his way to a five-shot win at what was then the FBR Open (now the Phoenix Open).

This Thursday, Mickelson made his way around Spyglass by hitting eight of 14 fairways and 12 of 28 greens, and with just 28 putts. But he has been anything but on fire of late, his T5 last week at Scottsdale his best finish since another T5 last March in match play.

And while he was riding high, with three wins over the previous 10 months heading to Pebble in ’05, this time around Mickelson is looking for his first victory since the 2013 British Open. That’s a span of 100 starts over 1,553 days, according to Golf Channel.

And that may have been why the GC interviewer noted that, as he walked around Spyglass, he wondered that Mickelson once fired a 62 out there.

“I do, too,” said Phil, with a smile and a nod.

Mickelson, who is paired with Rory McIlroy for the first three rounds, will start Friday just four shots back of 18-hole co-leaders Kevin Streelman and Beau Hossler. McIlroy, playing the tournament for the first time, sits at 4-under.