Mickelson able to laugh off his epic meltdown

It didn’t take long for Phil Mickelson to address his Saturday meltdown with Rickie Fowler, his final-round playing partner Sunday.

Mickelson, of course, became the story of the third round when he putted a moving ball he had already putt on the 13th green to take a 10 with a two-stroke penalty. USGA officials considered disqualifying Mickelson, but opted not to at the end of the day.

“He joked about it right as we went down the first hole,’’ Fowler said. “We had a good time. Then he made a good par save on 13, and it looked like he won the Masters. He didn’t jump, but he had a little celebration there.’’

Fowler, who shot 84 on Saturday, posted 65 on Sunday, his low round of the tournament. Mickelson, who shot 81 Saturday, closed with 69 Sunday.

Asked his reaction to Mickelson’s antics on 13 Saturday, Fowler said, “It just shows you how borderline that pin could be, especially the timing and the day, going into the afternoon.’’

“He could have saved himself a shot by just letting it go and taking unplayable,’’ Fowler said. “But then that would still look pretty funny too if you’re able to hit the putt, goes off the green wherever it may go, bunker or down wherever, and you take an unplayable and put it back. The course shouldn’t play that way.’’

Asked if he’s ever thought about hitting a ball while it was still moving, Fowler said, “Maybe times when you’re playing with your buddies and you just want to slap it away as far as you can possibly hit it. I haven’t necessarily thought of hitting it back towards the hole.’’

➤ Tony Finau and Daniel Berger were somewhat accidental tourists at the top of the U.S. Open leaderboard entering Sunday thanks to the respective 66s as the contenders with later third-round tee times collapsed in the more difficult conditions.

That got them the prestigious final pairing Sunday as co-leaders. And neither did anything with the opportunity. Finau shot a 2over 72 to finish 5-over, four off the winning score. And Berger shot 73 to finish 6-over.

“It was tough,’’ said Finau, who bogeyed four of his first five holes. “I don’t know what it is with this golf course. I can never get off to a good start. It was that way every round. I don’t know what the deal was. I couldn’t get off to a good start any of the rounds.’’

Finau, who finished fifth, didn’t close well,

either, with a double bogey on 18.

“Unfortunate what happened on 18, but to post my first top five in a major is pretty cool,’’ he said. “It’s huge for my confidence. This is the first major championship where I was really in contention. I’ve had a couple of top-10 finishes, but not really anywhere near the leaderboard or near the top. This is the first time I got a taste of the final group, and coming down the stretch, having a chance to try and catch [winner] Brooks [Koepka] and it was a lot of fun for me.’’

➤ There was a tie for low amateur honors between Matt Parziale, a firefighter from Brockton, Mass., and Luis Gagne, a 20-yearold from Costa Rica who plays college golf at LSU. Both finished at 16-over. Gagne shot a final-round 74 to Parziale’s 75.

Will Grimmer, a 21-year-old who plays at Ohio State, finished 23-over after shooting 80 Sunday.

Parziale insisted he was not thinking about a trophy for low amateur.

“I never have goals or expectations or think about winning,’’ Parziele said. “I do well when I get into the process, and that’s really my only goal.’’

Parziele, who got exemptions into the Masters and U.S. Open as the reigning Mid-Amateur champion, missed the cut at the Masters in April.

“I’m just happy that I was able to play four rounds here, play pretty well all four of them [in] stretches,’’ Parziale said. “Obviously, it’s very tough out there, so there are stretches where things two wrong. But I responded well every day. Even after a bad finish [Saturday], to come out and play a somewhat decent round [Sunday], I’m happy with that.’’