Mickelson Gets Off to Fast Start as Pro : Golf: He’s a little shaky before round, but he settles down to birdie first hole and shoot a 68.

He said he was nervous. He said he awoke at 5:45 Thursday morning, showered and then stared at his breakfast as his queasy stomach did back flips. He said his swing was a mess on the practice range. He said he stood on the first tee of the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links and hoped that his drive would somehow find the fairway.

Then, in his first round of his first tournament as a professional--in the U.S. Open, no less--Phil Mickelson shot a 68. Four under par. A 68. Two strokes off the lead.

He should feel queasy more often.

Those opening-hole jitters?

Mickelson, who won his third NCAA championship earlier this month, took a three-wood and slammed his drive safely in the fairway. He used a nine-iron to put his second shot 18 inches from the pin. A putt later, Mickelson had a birdie on the underrated, 373-yard par-four.

“After making that birdie, it tended to calm me down a little bit, relax me just a hair,” he said. “It made for a fun day.”

Not since Ben Crenshaw in 1973, and before him, Jack Nicklaus in 1961, has a player’s professional debut been more widely anticipated. Mickelson won the U.S. Amateur two years ago. He dominated the NCAA tournaments. He entered the Northern Telecom Open in 1991 and won that, too, becoming the first amateur since 1985 to win a PGA Tour event.

People notice these things. The powerful International Management Group, sort of the William Morris Agency of sports marketing, tried to recruit Mickelson as a client. So did Golden Bear International, whose founder and most visible client is none other than Jack Nicklaus himself.

Instead, Mickelson signed last week with Dallas-based Cornerstone Sports, the company that represents John Daly. And two days ago, Mickelson agreed to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar club endorsement deal.

His financial standing secure, Mickelson arrived at the No. 1 tee Thursday morning with nothing to worry about except a temperamental tummy, a Pebble Beach course that spits out newcomers and a gnawing fear that his swing had deserted him. There to watch every moment of it was a gallery, including his “aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and parents,” all eager to see greatness.

They didn’t have to wait long.

After getting that first-hole birdie, he went to two under when he birdied No. 6, a 516-yard par-five. He moved to three under when he sank a 35-footer on No. 12, a 202-yard par-three.

In no time at all, Mickelson’s name could be found on the leader board. As word spread of his charge, his gallery grew.

Even Mickelson found himself caught up in the moment.

“I don’t really try to look at the leader board intentionally, but it’s just right there,” he said. “It’s kind of cool to see your name on there, especially with this being my first pro event.”

It almost didn’t stay there. On No. 13, a par-four that stretches 392 yards and is hardly considered the most difficult on the course, Mickelson hit his drive into the thick rough and directly behind a pine tree. He took a six-iron and hacked away, hoping to hook the ball around the tree.

Instead, the ball hit the tree trunk, caromed backward, went through the legs of an unsuspecting reporter and into the gallery.

“Is everybody OK?” Mickelson asked after hearing the sound of ball against trunk.

He could have faded there. But he didn’t. His next shot finally found the green and he two-putted for a bogey.

Three holes later, he recovered the lost stroke with a birdie on the 402-yard par-four. He moved to four-under on No. 17, the ultra-difficult 209-yard par-three. His two-iron tee shot rolled to within four feet of the pin and he sank the putt.

“I think I can look back on this day 20, 30 years from now on the start of my professional career and say, ‘I birdied my first hole in my professional debut. Shot 68 in that round in the United States Open Championship.’ I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome,” he said.

But there’s no need to remind Mickelson about the dangers of overconfidence. He knows.

“I’m just trying to figure out how to play a good second round now,” he said.