Golf

LOS ANGELES — This is one time the PGA Tour needs to avoid the perception of slow play.

It has been two weeks since the Sports Illustrated story that Vijay Singh spent $9,000 on products that included deer antler spray, telling the magazine he used the spray “every couple of hours ... every day” and that he was “looking forward to some change in my body.” Singh issued a statement the next day that he used the spray and was shocked to learn it might contain a substance that is banned under the tour’s anti-doping policy.

Singh is still playing.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Phil Mickelson missed out on a 59 by a fraction of an inch Thursday in the first round of the Phoenix Open.

Mickelson had a chance to become the sixth player in PGA Tour history to break 60 with a 25-foot birdie attempt on his last hole, the par-4 ninth at TPC Scottsdale. The putt looked good all the way, and Mickelson pointed his putter at the cup as he prepared to celebrate.

Right at the end, though, the ball caught the right edge of the cup, curled 180 degrees to the other side of the hole and stayed out.

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

“I’m excited to shoot 60, but to see that last putt lip out the way it did and not go in, it’s crushing because you don’t get that chance very often to shoot 59.”

His caddie, Jim Mackay, fell to his knees and stayed there several seconds.

SAN DIEGO — Phil Mickelson is talking more about how much he pays in taxes than how many fairways he hits off the tee.

Mickelson, regarded as the “People’s Choice” for his connection with fans, put his popularity on the line with polarizing comments about how much he has to pay in state and federal taxes. The four-time major champion said it might lead to “drastic changes,” such as moving from his native California, and that it already caused him to pull out of the San Diego Padres’ new ownership group.

His only regret was not keeping his opinion to himself.

HONOLULU — Doctors warned Bart Bryant that he might never play golf again. Once the bones in his left wrist were fused, the outlook improved slightly. He should be able to play golf, but probably no more than once every two weeks. That’s good news for recreational players, not so much for a tour player.

Bryant is near the end of his PGA Tour career, and he’s leaving on his terms.

KAPALUA, Hawaii — David Duval spent his first full season of professional golf in the minor leagues, finishing No. 8 on what was then the Nike Tour money list to earn his PGA Tour card. Nearly 20 years later, after a career in which he has won a major, a PGA Tour money title and was No. 1 in the world, Duval is willing to go back.

Duval still doesn’t know where he will start his 2013 season, but he figures it will be a year like no other. Duval’s only status is as a past champion. His only mission is to start his season next year in Hawaii, whether that’s the Tournament of Champions or the Sony Open with full status.

Dave Kindred, a preeminent American sports writer who has worked his trade for the better part of four decades, was walking down the right side of the first fairway at Kiawah Island with the final group at the PGA Championship when he mentioned he had been teaching a writing class to college students.