Phil makes news with pinstripes, putter

Published Sep. 2, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Phil Mickelson caused a minor commotion with his pants and his putter.

The day after he took batting practice at Fenway Park and wore a Red Sox jersey while throwing out the first pitch before the Yankees' 4-2 win, Mickelson wore pinstripes at the TPC Boston.

''Lost a wager with a friend and had to wear these today,'' Mickelson said. ''What can you say? I've got to suck it up and bear it.''

Stranger still was the sight of Mickelson sticking the grip of a long putter into his gut.

Mickelson became the latest to try a belly putter, and while he still missed his share of putts in a round of 70, he sounded as though he was willing to stick with it — at least for the rest of the week.

''I thought it went well,'' said Mickelson, who opened with back-to-back birdie putts of just inside 10 feet. ''I feel that I'm probably putting better with that putter than I would be the short putter, so I'll end up using it for the rest of the tournament I would anticipate. But I don't know if it's a short-term or long-term thing. But it feels good.''