Jim Harris: Phil Mickelson the Hook At This Year’s St. Jude Classic

MEMPHIS — The Tournament Players Club at Southwind southeast of town offers golf fans terrific viewing over four days, but especially on Thursday when the St. Jude Classic kicks off.

In the past, such international stars as Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood have competed and drawn large followings. But as soon as Phil Mickelaon committed for this year’s tourney, the buzz started like it hasn’t in several years.

Mickelson, dealing with an arthritic condition, seems to be on the downhill side of his career. But he still carries that “wow” factor among PGA Tour fans, and he likes to enter a competitive tournament the week before the U.S. Open, which tees off next Thursday at Merion outside Philadelphia. His round Thursday morning at Southwind started loosely, with a double-bogey and a few bogeys mixed at the midway point before Mickelson turned on the magic again with three straight birdies on his back nine (the course’s front side, as Mickelson started the day on No. 10). He settled for a 1-over 71, and anything at 71 or better on Friday should keep him around for the weekend. Blustering winds kept the scoring low on the first day, with 4-under leading the way.

Mickelson is far from the only star here, but it was easy to tell he was the golfer so many fans had taken a morning off to come watch. His pairing with three-time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland and D.A. Points was the morning’s highlight grouping, and the roars from the front side when Mickelson began his birdie run could be heard a thousand yards away or more at the 18^th green. Behind them were recent Colonial winner Boo Weekley along with major winner David Toms and the flashy dressing Englishman, Ian Poulter (with a pink shade of shoes to match the pink in his white and gray shirt).

Like every weekly Tour stop, the St. Jude flip-flops the pairings where Mickelson, Harrington and Points will line up as Friday’s marquee grouping for Golf Channel’s coverage.

Thursday afternoon, Ryder Cup members Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker didn’t lack for marquee group attention, though neither has quite mastered the magical hold over a gallery that Mickeson still possesses. It should not take much longer though, especially for Dustin Johnson if he can consistently perform the way he did over his first eight holes on Thursday.

By the sixth hole, after rolling in a 20-footer from above the cup, the St. Jude defending champion was 5-under par and the afternoon’s biggest gallery was uttering a collective “wow.”

Johnson, Snedeker and classy veteran Davis Love III, coming off a bothersome neck injury, were the made-for-TV grouping, and they each had their moments.

Johnson’s long birdie putt on No. 7 missed by a hair, though, and his hot start fizzled to a finishing 3-under 70. Snedeker fought a balky driver and had to grind to an even-par 70. Love, the 1997 PGA Championship winner who was nearly an unknown to many of the younger ones in the gallary, plugged along with a workman-like 4-under to tie for Thursday’s lead.

We love TPC Southwind because you’re never taxed by many hills and hard climbs, and the routing is perfect on either side to set up for watching three or four holes at a time without moving more than a pitching wedge spot to spot.

On Thursday we recognized a lot of Arkansans outside the ropes, and we’ve always wondered — with everything TPC Southwind has to offer the fan and the proximity to great players without having to deal with crowds 10 deep — why the early rounds aren’t overflowing with spectator support.

We were among just a handful of fans who followed the 14-year-old sensation, Tianlang Guan, for a few holes on the back nine. Even two-time major winner and former Razorback John Daly, who used to draw Mickelson-like galleries here, was easy to view, though hard on the eyes with his newest Loudmouth pants design, colored purple-and-orange in honor of host FedEx.

We watched Padraig Harrington bang a few practice range balls after his round, daring him to go for the guy driving the ball-collecting cart 250 yards off in the distance, a la his newest Wilson commercial. He laugh, “They discourage us from doing that” and then sent  a drive over the cart to the purple fence line 300 yards away.

My 11-year-old kid was presented with yet another ball here from a caddie — Scott McCarron’s this time — for a memory he’ll keep forever. Then, with the pleasant morning having given way to more Memphis-like conditions of heat and sun,  he and his friends whined that were ready to bolt for the Doubletree’s pool downtown, across the street from Autozone Park, where a Redbirds game awaited this night.

Heck, we even got to see former St. Louis Cardinals reliever Mark Rzepczynski (better known as “Scrabble” for the diehard Cards fans in St. Louis) throw a couple of innings, as he tries to find the form that made him a late-inning regular for the Cards the previous two seasons. We saw a likely future star, second baseman Kolton Wong, make great plays and use his speed to leg out a bunt for a hit in a 2-1 Redbirds loss to Nashville.

Sometimes, the Mississippi River makes Memphis seem a world away, though it takes less time to reach TPC Southwind from Little Rock than it does to pull into Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville.

Golf fans and baseball fans ought to find it nearly heaven, especially on a Thursday when big-league golf with Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson and near-big-league baseball are both in town at the same time. The good news is, the schedule is the same for both through Sunday.