Mickelson's driver cracks but stays in play

Turns out Phil Mickelson’s driver might be ok after all, even though he will probably switch to a backup.

Mickelson called a rules official in the middle of his round on Thursday and asked that he be allowed to replace his driver, which had a small crack in it. Of course, that request was denied — it was just a crack — and Mickelson kept using the club.

Mickelson actually reeled off four birdies in five holes to get back in the red after a slow start at Redstone. He capped his off his day with a birdie-par finish on two of toughest holes on the course.

"It flew fine there on the end after I thought there might be an issue," said Mickelson, who averaged 316 yards off the tee Thursday. "It flew okay."

"It actually looked like the driver that was made from a stronger titanium. It actually does that, kind of creates a little spider-like crack. It doesn’t affect the performance. I’ll be fine to use it. Sometimes it has that look. The shots I hit after were great. The ball flew very well. There wasn’t an issue, but it just scared me when I looked down and saw it."