Dejected Phil: 'I don't have it'
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Phil Mickelson did not mince words. There was no attempt to sugarcoat what has been painfully obvious for the past three days at the Masters.
“I don’t have it,’’ Mickelson said Saturday after shooting a 2-over 74 in a second consecutive round marred by a triple bogey that leaves him at 7-over for the tournament. On Friday, Mickelson derailed his round with a triple on No. 9. On Saturday, he tripled the first hole and bogeyed the second.
Mickelson’s third round followed the second-round 79 he posted on Friday — the worst score he had shot in 96 career Masters rounds.
“It’s frustrating being out there when you know you don’t have a chance, but it’s still Augusta,’’ Mickelson said. “I’m trying to make due.’’
Mickelson’s recent play buoyed his hopes to win a fourth green jacket this week. He was coming off a win at the WGC-Mexico, his first victory since 2013, and was putting as well as he ever had in his career. His opening-round 2under 70 proved to be a bit of mirage.
He said his final-round approach for Sunday will be “play as hard as I can, and just not worry about the results.’’
“But it’s always Augusta. You always learn some things,’’ he said. “I was taking some notes. There were some new pins there. So I’m kind of doing preparation for next year, I guess. I’m just hitting some pretty bad shots. I’m hitting some good ones, but hitting a lot of really bad ones. I’ve made a lot of triples lately.’’
The only real highlight to Mickelson’s round was his eagle on the par-5 eighth hole, where he hit driver off the deck from the fairway to reach the green in two.
“It was a good one,’’ Mickelson said. “Every now and then I’ll hit a shot like that and it makes it fun. The nice thing is I’ll get some crystal out of it. It wasn’t a total loss.’’
Asked what he does with all the crystal he has won from the tournament over the years for making eagles, Mickelson said, “I keep them. You can never have enough crystal.’’
Asked if he has a cabinet large enough to house all the crystal, Mickelson said, “Yeah, it’s decent size.’’