Reed Saxon / AP

Phil Mickelson is the defending champion at the Northern Trust Open.

Mickelson hasn’t been too far away from par in his first three starts on the West Coast, where he has had at least one top 10 every year since his first full season in 1993. He missed the cut in Phoenix, tied for 42nd at Torrey Pines at 2-over 290, and had to birdie the last hole at Pebble Beach to make the cut at 2-under par.

He went through five buckets of balls on the range at Pebble Beach in the rain Sunday, had three good days of practice, went back to the old shafts in his irons and eliminated the mistakes that had been dragging him down.

“When you don’t play well, you’re not going to rest until you get back on track,” Mickelson said. “Today’s score, it was obviously a good round, but I didn’t feel that I played immaculate. I still feel a thought it’s coming. The reason why the score was so low is I ended up making some putts, and I holed a chip, and I got up-and-down on every green that I missed, which is helpful.”

He chipped in for birdie on the par-5 17th after his wedge spun off the front of the green. The most pure shot was a 4-iron on the 244-yard fourth hole that stopped a foot away.

Even so, nothing topped his opening hole.

With a hole location back and to the right on one of the best short par 4s in golf, Mickelson wanted to go in the front bunker to give himself a chance to blast it close on the 302-yard hole. Instead, it sailed over the green, over the back bunker and into rough near the sandy cart path lining the 11th tee box.

His flop shot with a full swing came out perfectly, landing on the collar and stopping 6 feet away. Even his caddie, Jim Mackay, who has seen plenty of spectacular shots, was shaking his head.

“Obviously, the way to play this hole is go 40 yards long into a bad lie,” he said.

Mickelson wasn’t as forthcoming.

“I’ve played that hole very effectively the last couple of years, and have played it under par and bettered the field average,” he said, pausing to smile. “And I’d rather not say what I’m trying to do there.”