Search for Mickelson’s ball dicey
Phil Mickelson stepped to the first tee at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., on Friday afternoon and launched his shot a very far distance out of bounds. A blimp camera — the only one in position to track the horrifically bad shot — caught the ball bouncing on Shunpike Road and skipping across a driveway into thick ivy.
Within minutes, a crew of a half-dozen or so — including golf fans who left the course, residents who lived nearby, a photographer and two reporters — began combing the bushes looking for that elusive ball. They played cellphone video of the shot over and over, comparing it to the yards before them — “there’s the mark on the street, there’s the two driveways, there’s the bush — it’s gotta be in there!”
Zach Freeman, a recent graduate of Dayton High School, was the first to find a ball amid the ivy. It was a Titleist 6 with the stamp “PILGRIM” on it; Mickelson plays Callaways.
Jim Birch, a mailman and a volunteer at the tournament who lives a couple of blocks away, wandered over on his lunch break. He too pulled a ball from the bushes, but he also drew a Titleist.
A few houses down, John Maniace found a ball on his front lawn and yelped. A groan went through the bush searchers because he found another Titleist.
Right as the searchers were ready to disband, a shout and a ping were heard as another ball came bounding down the street. It bounced into the hands of Mara Friedman, a nearby resident who was on the phone asking her husband to use the TV replay to help guide the crew toward Mickelson’s wayward ball.
The searchers didn’t even have time to regroup when another ball came flying over the green wall separating the course from the road. A quick check confirmed that the balls were the exact same — twin Titleist 7s — meaning that someone was having a very bad start to his day. Consultation with fans inside the fence confirmed it was Nicolas Colsaerts who had sent both balls wide.
It’s unknown whether Mickelson’s ball remains lost, was grabbed by an opportunistic passer-by or is buried deep in Jersey ivy. Shunpike Road is apparently Baltusrol’s equivalent of Waveland Avenue, the street that runs behind Wrigley Field where fans gather to catch home runs.
“You’re better off doing this,” Friedman said, “than playing Pokemon Go.”