Phil Mickelson just missed out on becoming only the sixth man in PGA Tour history to break a 60-shot round on his way to taking the lead on day one of the Phoenix Open earlier today.

The 42-year-old would have achieved the feat had he sunk a 25-foot birdie attempt on the par-four ninth at TPC Scottsdale.

"Six feet to go, it was in the centre," Mickelson said. "Three feet to go, it was in the centre. A foot to go, it was in the centre, and even as it's approaching the hole, I couldn't envision which side of the hole it could possibly miss on.

"It ended up somehow just dying off at the end, catching the lip. At that speed, to lip out as much as it did is very rare."

As it was, he had to settle for an equal course record of 60, which left him on -11 for the tournament.

Below him is a five-way tie for second involving Jeff Maggert, Padraig Harrington, Ryan Palmer, Ted Potter Jr and Brandt Snedeker on -7.

There is then a host of players on -6, which includes Justin Leonard and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts.