Mickelson had doubts he would win Championship
Phil Mickelson has an imagination few in golf have possessed, along with a skill set that allows him to see shots no one else can.
One year at The Players Championship, he was in a bunker blocked by trees with no way forward except to go around them. Mickelson hit 7-iron through a gap so small he didn’t tell his caddie what he was doing so no one could talk him out of it. He hit it on the green and wound up winning that week.
Self-belief has never been an issue. It’s why Mickelson, even at age 50, always thought he could win another major. That moment came Sunday at Kiawah Island with a victory in the PGA Championship that made him the oldest major champion.
Even so, the vision of doing what no one else had in 161 years of the majors was getting blurry.
“Until I actually did it,” Mickelson said, “there was a lot of doubt.”
Never mind that he had gone two years without winning on the PGA Tour, eight years since winning a major, nine months since playing a final round on tour that mattered. The physical part wasn’t an issue. This was more about the mind, and it deeply concerned him.
It was only three weeks ago that Mickelson spoke of mental lapses during a round that was costing him careless bogeys, keeping him from contending or even making the cut.
“I don’t have a great solution right now,” he said after missing the cut in the Valspar Championship. “But I’m working on it.” He found the answer. Some of the shots he hit Sunday were exquisite, whether it was the pitchand-run from behind the second green to a back pin that led to birdie or his 7-iron into the wind and over an expansive waste area to start the back nine with a birdie for a four-shot lead.
Through it all, Mickelson kept his head in the game.
Phil Mickelson holds the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship Sunday in Kiawah Island, S.C.
“It’s very exciting because I’ve had a few breakthroughs on being able to stay more present, be able to stay more focused, and physically, I’m striking it and playing as well as I ever have but I haven’t been able to see that clear picture,” Mickelson said.
Most telling was what he shared going into the weekend about trying to find more length, not with his driver but with his concentration.
“I might try to play 36, 45 holes a day and try to focus on each shot, so that when I go out and play 18 it doesn’t feel like it’s that much,” Mickelson said. “I might try to elongate the time that I end up meditating, but I’m trying to use my mind like a muscle and just expand it because as I’ve gotten older, it’s been more difficult for me to maintain a sharp focus, a good visualization and see the shot.
“Physically, I feel like I’m able to perform and hit the shots that I’ve hit throughout my career, and I feel like I can do it every bit as well as I have,” he said. “But I’ve got to have that clear picture and focus.”
U.S. announces roster for CONCACAF semi
Defender DeAndre Yedlin and forward Jordan Siebatcheu earned spots on the 23-man U.S. roster for the CONCACAF National League semifinal against Honduras at Denver on
June 3.
Midfielder Cristian Roldan and forwards Daryl Dike and Gyasi Zardes were among the cuts announced Monday by U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter from the 40-man preliminary roster of May 10.
Midfielder Tyler Adams was included despite missing RB Leipzig’s final match of the Bundesliga season last weekend and returning to the U.S. for treatment of a back injury.
David Ochoa, whose blunder helped eliminate the U.S. under-24 team from Olympic qualifying in March, beat out Sean Johnson and Matt Turner for a backup goalkeeper slot with Ethan Horvath. Zack Steffen is the starter.
Berhalter listed Christian Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson among six forwards rather than in midfield. Berhalter included six midfielders and eight defenders. announced Monday that Hawk-Eye Live electronic line-calling will be used for all competition courts at the U.S. Open in 2021 and at seven of the nine US Open Series events preceding it.
During a fourth-round match at Ashe against Pablo Carreño Busta last September, Djokovic was defaulted from the U.S. Open for inadvertently hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball after dropping a game.