Dec 1, 2002 4 min read

INDIO, Calif. (AP) – Phil Mickelson was in the bushes three times, took himself out of the hole twice and even hit one shot right-handed. Thanks to one good swing, he was the biggest winner on the first day of the Skins Game. “The fun thing about the Skins Game is that you can hit the ball all over the map,” Mickelson said. “It’s not about who plays the best 18 holes.”

Mickelson hit an 8-iron into 4 feet on the 148-yard eighth hole to claim two skins and $100,000, giving him the lead going into final nine holes Sunday.

No one played better than Tiger Woods, who gave himself a birdie chance on all nine holes Saturday at Landmark Golf Club, but picked up his three skins when they counted the least, only $25,000 each.

Mark O’Meara also hit one good swing at the right time, a 5-iron into 2 feet on No. 3 to win three skins and $75,000.

Fred Couples got into the act on the final hole. From a sidehill lie in the rough, Couples hit 5-iron from 191 yards to 4 feet and made eagle.

“I thought there would be an eagle there. I just didn’t think it would be mine,” said Couples, who earned $50,000 for his lone skin.

By the end of the day, everyone walked away with more money than they need.

“Tiger played the best of all four of us,” Mickelson said. “I was able to get some skins because each hole gives us a fresh opportunity to win.”

It was only the third time in the 20-year history of the Conagra Foods Skins Game that all four players won something on the first day.

A year ago, nobody won anything until it was over because of a “validation” system that no one liked and even fewer people understood.

A skin could not be won unless the player had the best score on the next hole. As a result, Greg Norman won the $1 million pot with a birdie on the second playoff hole, which needed no validation.

“It’s great not to have validation,” Woods said. “It’s great to be on the board.”

The stakes get even higher on Sunday. The first three holes will be worth $50,000, the next five worth $70,000 and the 18th hole is worth $200,000.

Mickelson never had played in the Skins Game, a format that suits his aggressive style. He immediately showed about 4,000 fans what they had been missing by hitting his opening tee shot well right of the fairway into a small shrub.

“Can you get them to move back? I’m going to take a crack at this,” Mickelson said. He inverted his pitching wedge for a right-handed shot and smacked it out of the shrub about 90 yards down the fairway.

Mickelson hit into another bush on the next hole and had to take a penalty drop, effectively taking himself out of the hole. On the par-5 sixth, he hit off a cart path and into more bushes. He thought about playing it off his knees and claiming relief from the cart path, but what was the point?

“Tiger was already 15 feet for eagle,” he said.

Woods got there with the best shot of the day – nothing fancy, just pure power and perfection with a 3-wood that traveled 271 yards and landed softly on the upper tier of the green.

“Absolutely incredible,” Couples said. “That was one of the best shots I’ve ever seen. That looked like a pitching wedge from 270 yards.”

Woods had the best score, finishing every hole for a 4-under 32, although he had to work for his skins.

Woods had a 40-foot eagle putt that caught two-thirds of the hole and lipped out, and his birdie meant nothing when O’Meara rolled in a 30-footer to match him.

“There’s more than one way to make a birdie, isn’t there?” O’Meara said to anyone listening as he walked to the next tee.

Woods picked up two skins on the next hole when he hit 4-iron into 15 feet for birdie, then made his third straight birdie on No. 6 after that mammoth 3-wood. He again narrowly missed his eagle putt, and Couples had a chance to match the birdie.

Couples’ putt was just inside Woods’ eagle attempt, only it stopped one turn short of falling. Instead of giving it 10 seconds to drop, Couples tossed his putter at the cup, the lightest moment of an otherwise casual round.