INDIAN WELLS — Phil Mickelson pulled off the miraculous shots, Rocco Mediate was quick with the running commentary and Stephen Ames looked toward a third consecutive big Sunday.

But the front nine of the 26th annual LG Skins Game belongs to K.J. Choi.

Choi's steady, precise play with his irons allowed him to make four birdies and earn $75,000 on Saturday to take the first-round lead of his debut in the tournament. Choi earned the money with a 3-foot birdie putt on the third hole after the first two holes had been halved.

Mickelson is in second place entering today's final nine holes at the Celebrity Course at Indian Wells Golf Resort. Mickelson earned $25,000 with a spectacular eagle on the 501-yard par-5 fourth hole. But the foursome halved the final five holes Saturday, carrying over $200,000 to today's first hole, which was already worth $50,000. That makes the 10th hole worth $250,000.

“That's a lot of money on the first hole,” said Ames, who won $650,000 of his $675,000 in the 2007 Skins Game on the final hole. “We'll see how well everyone sleeps tonight.”

“It's going to be a very interesting first hole of the day,” Mickelson added. “We are all going to be a little bit nervous, a little bit tight trying to make birdie, because the guy who gets that first skin is going to be able to free-wheel it a little bit on the back nine.”

Choi, like Mediate making his debut in the Skins Game, admitted to nerves on the first tee playing in a spotlight against three top players.

“Everybody here is a good player, good games and good short-game players,” said Choi, who spoke to the media in English rather than through a translator in Korean. “I was just really focused on 100 yards and inside.”

The focus paid off as Choi played solid golf throughout the day. He missed a 12-foot birdie on the first hole, but then made a six-footer on the second hole for a birdie to halve Mediate, who had made an 18-foot birdie seconds earlier.

On the third hole, with Mickelson and Ames over the green and Mediate about 90 feet short of the pin, Choi's pitching wedge from 85 yards finished three feet from the cup. He made the putt for the win, the $75,000 carryover skin and to erase his fear of being shut out during the weekend.

Mickelson then hit the day's most spectacular shot, a 5-iron from 200 yards out in the right rough around a tree and over a lake to the green on the par-5 fourth. The ball found the front of the green, then rolled to four inches short of the cup. When Ames missed a 22-foot birdie putt, it gave Mickelson $25,000 for the hole and an eagle prize of $25,000 in home appliances and home entertainment equipment from tournament host LG.

Even in the final five holes Saturday, all halved, there was some solid and amusing play. Mickelson missed the fairway on the short par-4 eighth well right, leaving his ball near the bottom of the Whitewater Wash. But his recovery finished less than two feet from the cup. The shot gained him no skin, though, as Ames and Mediate nearly pitched in themselves to halve the hole with birdie-3s.

When Mediate and Ames tied the ninth hole, it meant the $900,000 of the $1 million purse was still up for grabs in the final nine holes.

Mediate's best two holes were the second and ninth, where he made birdies putts of about 20 feet. But each time a player with a closer birdie putt converted. On the ninth hole, Ames' six-footer denied Mediate $200,000.

“It was fun, but hard,” Mediate said of his Skins Game debut. “These guys are good. The commercial (for the PGA Tour) is absolutely true.”

Mediate added to the relaxed atmosphere of the day, as Choi pointed out.

“In normal play, there is no talking when you are about to hit,” Choi joked.

Ames hopes that his good fortune on Sunday the last two years will carry over to today. Last year, Ames earned $650,000 of his $675,000 weekend on the final hole of the event last year.

“My third year here, I feel like I'm up,” Ames said. “I'm way ahead. I don't have much to worry about. To me, it's a relaxing atmosphere. Like I said, It's all about timing.”

Choi said he expects the players to fire at the flag on the friendly first hole to start today.

“Starting No. 10, it's with a middle iron, an 8-iron, 7-iron (approach),” Choi said. “With a 7-iron, an 8-iron, there is not too much spin.”