Mickelson’s run ranks among the best
GULLANE, Scotland — Phil Mickelson has played some spectacular golf in his career, been in the hot spotlight coming down the stretch in a major, but what he did Sunday was good enough, special enough, to put him in the conversation about some of the great stretches of golf i n the history of the professional majors.
Muirfield was a beast for the 142nd British Open Championship, lengthened for the test and baked out to the consistency of concrete by an abnormally hot and dry stretch of weather in East Lothian.
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club, which oversees the setup of the championship, listened to the players complaints about rock-hard green and tough hole positions after Thursday’s opening round and Mickelson was one of the most vocal critics.
The conditions changed over the course of the week and Mickelson, nurturing a secret putting key which has given him confidence and swagger on the greens, looked the guy who was best able to cope with adjusting to the changing pace.
Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes at Muirfield, a stretch of two intimidating par-3s, three par-4s with tough-to-hit fairways and a par-5 — the 17th — that played into the teeth of the howling wind.
Four-under-par in the last half dozen, in a major, on a course that was playing as hard as Muirfield was playing puts Mickelson’s final round up there with 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus’ in-bound 30 at the 1986 Masters, Johnny Miller’s 63 at Oakmont to win the U.S. Open in 1973 ... it’s there with those feats.
Mickelson birdied 13 from 10 feet and 14 from 20 feet, gathered himself for the finish with pars on 15 and 16 (with a clutch up-and-down) and then closed a major with birdies on the 17th and 18th holes. Boom. The birdie on 17 was epic. Mickelson smoked two 3-woods (he didn’t carry a driver at the Open) onto the green of the par-5 that was playing into the wind, 40 feet from the hole and two-putted.
“That was the moment I kind of had to compose myself, because I hit two of the greatest 3-woods I ever hit,” said Mickelson. “Those two 3-woods were the best shots of the week, to get it on that green. As I was walking up to the green, that was when I realized this was very much my championship, in my control. I was getting a little emotional.
“I had to kind of take a second to slow down my walk and try to regain composure.”
When crunch time came and the emotions rose, Mickelson was the guy who played the best golf.
Sweden’s Henrik Stenson played the last five holes in 1-under-par while the rest of the contenders — Masters champ Adam Scott (four bogeys in a row from the 13th through 16 holes), Tiger Woods (1-over-par in the last four holes) and Lee Westwood (2-over on the back nine) — all wilted.
Mickelson did it against quality opponents. Who else could you throw out there? Scott is the Masters champ, Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood is the best current player who hasn’t won a major. It was great stuff. “To play probably the best round of my career and hit some of the best shots that I’ve ever hit ... certainly putted better than I’ve ever putted. You know, I was getting ready for today and I just I thought I need to bring my ‘A’ game (Sunday). I just need to bring it,” said Mickelson.
“I need to show up and play some of my best golf. And I did. I played some of the best golf of my career.”
Now Mickelson just needs the U.S. Open — where he’s finished runnerup six times, including this year — to complete the career Grand Slam. It’s going to be a dominating talking point between now and next June at Pinehurst.
What’s going to be interesting in the meantime is if this putting secret to which Mickelson refers — but won’t share — continues to produce the kind of results it did Sunday when Mickelson put his final round at Muirfield in the mix with the greats.