MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Even after a quintessential “Lefty” day at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Phil Mickelson has enough history around TPC Southwind to know that he’s still just one good round away from something special.

Before the Memphis event was given the World Golf Championship upgrade, it was a regular stop for Mickelson, who has two runner-up finishes at the St. Jude Classic and has six top-25 finishes in eight starts. When he played his first eight holes on Friday in 3 over par, he didn’t panic.

“I got off to a rough start,” Mickelson said. “So, 3 under for the tournament, although I'm eight back, I feel like I'm in a position that if I can get a hot round, and I've certainly shot some of those over the years, if I get a hot round tomorrow, I can move right up into contention for Sunday, which is what I would love, just to have a chance on Sunday.”

Mickelson managed three birdies on his inward nine for an even-par 70 and he wasn’t shy in his praise for TPC Southwind.

“I really love this golf course, I think it's the most underrated course that we play on Tour. It's just a wonderful, fair, fun challenge,” said Mickelson, who has just a single top-10 finish on Tour this season and is currently 103^rd on the season-long points list with just three regular-season events remaining.