Phil Mickelson was full of praise for the fans in attendance at LIV Golf Chicago after he shot an opening round 68 at Bolingbrook Golf Club, while Bryson DeChambeau was not a fan of the crowd in the UK

Phil Mickelson is in good form(Image: Getty Images)

Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson heaped praise on the crowd at LIV Golf Chicago following his stellar opening round of 68 at Bolingbrook Golf Club.

Unlike Bryson DeChambeau, who lost his cool with spectators during last month’s LIV Golf UK event after being taunted by a heckler, Mickelson had nothing but glowing words for the Chicago faithful. The veteran was tied for third heading into the second round after his stellar performance on Friday.

“It was a good start. I just need to finish the round off a little bit more solid than I did today, and I think it’s going to be a great weekend,” Mickelson remarked after closing his opening round with consecutive bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.

“We always love coming to Chicago. The people here have been such great sports fans.

“For decades been coming here and have had great support in the game of golf, and it’s fun to see the people out here and the way that they’ve responded to this tournament, and this course has been a wonderful host.”

He added: “But again, I think this course is very exciting to play because you have holes where you can make birdies and eagles, and you also have some really tough pars, and you’re seeing some bogeys and doubles.

“I think that makes for a really exciting weekend.”

Bryson DeChambeau recently clashed with LIV Golf fans(Image: Getty Images)

Mickelson found himself in a crowded tie for third place alongside several of golf’s elite players, with DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Dean Burmester all carding matching 68s in their first rounds.

Mickelson was on the brink of leading the tournament, but two late bogeys changed the game.

He ended up at Bolingbrook in Illinois, trailing behind Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson by a shot. Despite finishing last at LIV Golf UK, Johnson has shown significant improvement this time around.

“I feel like I’m always close, and it only takes a couple shots here or there where my game just clicks back and I start playing good again,” Johnson shared with Golfweek.

“Got off to a little bit of a shaky start today but then started hitting some quality shots and rolled in a couple putts and kind of turned it around and finished off with a nice solid day today.

“To be honest, even in the UK, I did not play nearly as bad as my score. I know my score was horrible, but I actually hit a lot of good shots. I felt like every time I hit a good shot it was a foot off from being really good and ends up in a bad spot.

“Obviously those greens and that golf course is pretty tricky. Just scored horribly.”