Phil Mickelson hits his third shot out of a bunker on the sixteenth hole during the first round of the WGC - Cadillac Championship golf tournament at TPC Blue Monster at Trump National Doral. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/>(Reuters) - Three-times Masters champion Phil Mickelson looked sharp in his preparation for next week's season-opening major by firing a six-under-par 66 to join the first-round leaderboard at the Houston Open on Thursday.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Fellow American Scott Piercy was best among the early starters with a blistering, bogey-free round of nine-under-par 63 for a three-shot lead at the Golf Club of Houston.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Mickelson, the 2011 Houston winner, likes to sharpen his tournament play the week before the test at Augusta National and got off to a fast start.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>Beginning his round at the 10th, Mickelson birdied three of his first four holes and added two more birdies to make the turn in five-under 31. He got to seven-under before taking a bogey at the finish when he failed to get up-and-down from a bunker.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Charles Howell III and Luke Guthrie were also in the clubhouse with 66s.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Piercy, who also started on the back nine, used an even hotter streak to take charge as he ran off five consecutive birdies from the 18th and capped off the round with a birdie at his last hole.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Grouped in the clubhouse at five under par were France's Victor Dubuisson, Canadian Graham DeLaet and 2012 winner Hunter Mahan.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>Sweden's Jonas Blixt, American Patrick Reed and 2009 champion Paul Casey of England were included in a large group at four-under.
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<span id="midArticle_8"/> (Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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