Mickelson happy with opening 70 at breezy Sawgrass

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Phil Mickelson was delighted to shoot a sub-par score at the Players Championship on Thursday in launching his bid to become the tournament's first back-to-back winner.

In breezy early conditions at the TPC at Sawgrass, the American left-hander shrugged off successive bogeys around the turn to open with a two-under-par 70.

That left him four strokes behind pacesetting Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who also teed off in the morning before the winds strengthened in the afternoon.

"I'm pleased to get off to a good, solid start," world number two Mickelson told reporters after carding five birdies and three bogeys. "But I feel as though I'm turning 66s into 70s and I'm going to have to fix that this weekend.

"I'm going to have to stop letting those shots slide in the middle of the round that are costing me in the end, although I would have taken anything under par starting the day.

"There's enough playability around the greens where you can salvage some pars and get up and down but the golf course is not easy by any means. To go low out here is very difficult."

Mickelson, who won last year's title by two shots with a consummate exhibition of golf, said patience was a prized commodity on the challenging Stadium Course at Sawgrass.

"If you make a lot of pars out here, you're not going to be losing much ground and a birdie here or there scattered in will help make up ground," the three-times major winner added.

"You really want to be patient and not try to force birdies, take advantage of the birdie holes and the par fives especially."

Experience is another prime asset on the firm, fast-running layout at Sawgrass where Mickelson is making his 15th appearance.

"Knowing that I've played well here in the past and that I've won gives me a little bit more confidence playing the golf course and maybe takes a little bit of pressure off," the 37-year-old said.

"I had been wanting for so long to play well here and I may have even been pressing a little bit trying to get low scores. Consequently I really haven't had good performances here until last year."

(Editing by Martin Petty)