TROON, Scotland -- Phil Mickelson came within a lip-out of golf history Thursday, shooting an 8-under-par 63 at Royal Troon during the first round of The Open.Mickelson, 46, who won The Open at Muirfield three years ago, had an 18-footer for birdie at the 18th that appeared to be going in, cut the right lip and spun out. No player has ever shot 62 in a major championship.It was one of the best rounds that Ive played. I mean, nothing will match that final round at Muirfield, but it was one of the best rounds Ive ever played. I was able to take advantage of these conditions, and yet I want to shed a tear right now, Mickelson said. That putt on 18 was an opportunity to do something historical. I knew it, and with a foot to go I thought I had done it. I saw that ball rolling right in the center. I went to go get it, I had that surge of adrenaline that I had just shot 62, and then I had the heartbreak that I didnt and watched that ball lip out. It was, wow, that stings.It really stings to have a chance. Its such a rare opportunity to do something historic like that and ... if I had just hit a weak flail-off and never had a chance and left it short, so be it. But this ball was hunting right in the center and didnt go. It was just heartbreaking.The miss was reminiscent of Mickelsons attempt to shoot 59 at the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open. He had a similar-length putt on the final green of the first round that lipped out.This ones going to stay with me for a while because of the historical element of the major championships, he said. Theres a lot of guys that have shot 63, but nobody has shot that 62. That would have been really something special. Im just not going to have opportunities like that to do that. So to have that putt lip out, thats going to sting for a while.But the 59, I mean, I havent shot 59 in a tour event, but I have shot 58s and 59s before at other rounds. That 59 in Hawaii for the Grand Slam of Golf back in like 05, Ive done that, and Ill have opportunities under the right conditions. Maybe next years CareerBuilder, if we have perfect weather in Palm Springs, you could shoot 59 there.But the opportunity to shoot 62 and be the first one to do it, I just dont think thats going to come around again, and thats why I walk away so disappointed.Three-time Open champion Jack Nicklaus praised Mickelsons effort, and then recalled his own bid at 62 at the 1980 U.S. Open.?I watched some of Phils round today and every time I turned around, he holed a putt, Nicklaus Tweeted. To play Royal Troon with no bogeys is a great round of golf. Well done, Phil! I almost hate to remind myself of this, but I missed a putt of just a couple feet at Baltusrol in 1980 to miss out on 62. In your case, Phil, you made a beautiful read and putt on that last hole, but got absolutely stone-cold robbed.?Mickelsons 63 is the 28th in major championship history and the ninth at The Open. The last was by Rory McIlroy in 2010 at St. Andrews.A five-time major champion, Mickelson missed the cut at the Masters and U.S. Open this year. He leads Patrick Reed?and Martin Kaymer by 3 strokes.Americans dominated the leaderboard Thursday. Reed was second at minus-5 after a 66. Zach Johnson,?Justin Thomas, Steve Stricker, Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau?and Billy Horschel followed at 4 under. HOUSTON -- The No. 6 Houston Cougars were without two starting linebackers in their 42-14 win over UConn on Thursday at TDECU Stadium because of an altercation between the two the day before the game.Houston coach Tom Herman said after Thursdays game that Cougars starting middle linebacker Matthew Adams was benched after a scuffle between he and starting outside linebacker Tyus Bowser that resulted in an injury to Bowser that will keep him out of the lineup in the coming weeks.Yesterday, during our weekly tradition of family Fridays, where we go out on the field and play some silly games just to loosen the thing up, dodge ball, whiffle ball, two-hand touch football, the two got over competitive and things briefly got out of hand during one of the games and resulted in a scuffle between Tyus and Matt, two brothers, Herman said. It was a freak accident and the result of the scuffle was a broken bone for Tyus. It will keep him out of the lineup for a few weeks. Our culture is one of love and the two are very close, remain very close and definitely consider [each other] brothers.Theyre both very remorseful for what happened in yesterdays incident. Matt was held out of tonigghts game as a result, but he will return next week.ddddddddddddHerman said he will learn more about Bowsers injury in the coming days.Adams, a junior who is first-year full-time starter, was third on the team in tackles entering Thursdays game with 24. He has four tackles for loss, a sack and two forced fumbles and has generally played well since stepping into his new role.Bowser, a senior, was second on the team in sacks with 3.5 before Thursdays game. He has five tackles for loss, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and 18 tackles. Prior to Thursday night, Bowser hadnt missed a game in his Houston career and started 17 of the last 18 dating back to the start of the 2015 season. Sophomore Emeke Egbule started in Bowsers place on Thursday night and will fill that role in Bowsers absence; junior DJuan Hines started in Adams place.The Cougars were also without starting running back Duke Catalon on Thursday after he was diagnosed with a concussion following Houstons win over Texas State on Sept. 24Houston (5-0) travels to Navy (3-0) on Oct. 8. Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Cheap Jerseys Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Throwback Discount Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys China Stitched Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '