Last Updated: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:08
Phil Mickelson opened his 2010 campaign with a "cautious" two-under par round of 70 at Torrey Pines on Thursday.
The 39-year-old finished 2009 with back-to-back victories at the Tour Championship and WGC-HSBC Championships and he opened up this year's assault with a solid display in his native San Diego.
The tournament is played at two courses - North and South Torrey Pines - and the left-hander began his season on the South course with five birdies and three-bogeys.
Scott Piercy leads the field on -8, but his first round was played at the much easier North venue, while Ben Crane, Matt Every, Chris Tidland and Japan's Ryuji Imada all sit on seven under.
Mickelson was happy with his opening 18 holes and he is heeding the words of a legend in the game as he looks to advance up the leaderboard in the coming days.
"I was a little more cautious today because I didn't want to make too many big mistakes," he said. "I want to work my way in the tournament.
"(Jack) Nicklaus used to talk about that in majors, that he wanted to try to progress as the week went along, and I didn't want to try to come out and win the tournament on Thursday because it's just not possible.
"I wanted to try to build into it, so I'm hoping I play better tomorrow and shoot a low score on the North, good enough to get myself in contention for the weekend."
Several British players enjoyed decent opening rounds, with Luke Donald carding a two-under 70, while Justin Rose, Greg Owen and Martin Laird shot 71.