Herrmann: Phil at 40: The swing is there but the putter isn't

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif.

They say that life begins at 40. "But," said the writer Helen Rowland, "so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight and the tendency to tell a story to the same person three or four times."

Time will tell what effect turning 40 will have on Phil Mickelson, who passed the milestone Wednesday and felt at times as if he were passing a kidney stone Thursday.

Being 40 means he has been around long enough to know that one frustrating first-round 75 at the U.S. Open isn't the end.

It also means that he has been around long enough to know that you don't get unlimited chances, so you'd better not let any slip away.

In any case, the good news for Mickelson was that he still is spry enough to hit the daylights out of the ball. He said in his news conference Tuesday that he might be approaching the best golf of his career. He sure still does have the youthful confidence to try any shot at any time.

On the classic par-5 18th yesterday, he tried to figure out how to get around the iconic tree in the middle of the fairway. He aimed way left, over the Pacific Ocean, and tried to hook it in. His aim was OK, the hook was not. It took a big bounce off the rocks and into the drink, and he fell just short of the big 4-0 for that nine (he shot 39, having begun his round on No. 10).

No problem. Fearlessness like that won him the Masters this year.

His real trouble was one that is as old as the hills, golf-wise. As he put it: "Obviously, I didn't score well, but I thought I played pretty well other than putting. I just putted horrific."

Yes, it was his first round in three years without at least one birdie. He missed 5-footers for birdie on Nos. 14 and 15 and a 3-footer for birdie on No. 6.

"It's just very frustrating for me to miss all those opportunities," he said. "I don't mind making a bad swing here or there, making a bogey here or there. It's part of the U.S. Open. I thought going without any doubles was good. It's just I've got to make birdies. When I missed those 5-footers and that 3-footer and a couple 10- footers, it just was very frustrating to me."

This explains why it's so hard to win the U.S. Open, why an elite golfer such as Mickelson has come close five times without grabbing the trophy. You can prepare like crazy, you can have everything in place, but if the putts don't go in, you're cooked.

"I'm rolling the ball well, but there's something off. The ball is not starting on my line, so there's something a little bit off," he said. "I'll have to work on it. Fortunately, I have a lot of time to do that."

Lucky for him, this doesn't seem to be an age thing. Mike Weir, who turned 40 last month, did just fine on the poa annua greens of Pebble Beach. "The strength of my game today was the putter. If they didn't go in, they looked like they were going in," he said.

Weir had one of the best rounds of the morning session, finishing tied for the lead at 1-under-par 70 with, among others, playing partner K.J. Choi, who was born a week after Weir. "He turned 40, too?" Weir said after the round. "Anyways, it's just a number. I don't think the golf ball knows how old you are."

Mickelson still seems to be the same guy. He's still a tinkerer, having replaced longtime short-game guru Dave Pelz with Dave Stockton. He still has old grudges. He lavished praise on four years of course setups by the USGA's Mike Davis, which was a backhanded slap at the 2007 setup at Oakmont, which Mickelson blamed for a wrist injury.

He's still young at 40, although someone once said, "40 isn't old, if you're a tree."