Loose lip sinks Mickelson’s 59
He just misses a putt for a record round at the Phoenix Open.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Phil Mickelson missed out on a 59 by a fraction of an inch Thursday in the first round of the Phoenix Open.
Mickelson had a chance to become the sixth player in PGA Tour history to break 60 with a 25-foot birdie attempt on his last hole, the par-four ninth at TPC Scottsdale. The putt looked good all the way, and Mickelson pointed his putter at the cup as he prepared to celebrate.
Right at the end, though, the ball caught the right edge of the cup, went around the hole and stayed out.
“Six feet to go, it was in the center,” Mickelson said. “Three feet to go, it was in the center. A foot to go, it was in the center, and even as it’s approaching the hole, I couldn’t envision which side of the hole it could possibly miss on, and it ended up somehow just dying off at the end, catch- ing the lip. At that speed, to lip out as much as it did is very rare.”
Mickelson settled for an 11-under 60, matching the tournament record he already shared with Grant Waite and Mark Calcavecchia. He had a four-stroke lead over Ryan Palmer, Brandt Snedeker, Padraig Harrington, Jeff Maggert and Ted Potter Jr. when play was suspended because of darkness in the round that started an hour late because of frost.
“Well, 60 is awesome,” said Mickelson, who was on target all day after finishing well back at La Quinta and Torrey Pines. “But there’s a big difference between 60 and 59. Not that big between 60 and 61, there really isn’t. But there’s a big barrier, a Berlin Wall barrier, between 59 and 60.
“I shot it in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. I shot 58 in a practice round. But to do it in a tournament would have been historic for me, something I’d always remember, and I’ll always remember that putt on the last hole probably too.”