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British Open Final Round: Pivotal Title Up for Grabs Mickelson Surges from 5 Shots Back to Win Title
(35 minutes later)
As a compelling pack of leaders chased the British Open title on Sunday, the psychological battle seemed as steep a challenge as Muirfield’s unforgiving course. As Phil Mickelson watched his final putt curl into the hole on Sunday, the colorful combination of joy and relief and amazement washed over his face in plain view and everything else in a wildly unpredictable British Open melted away. As it turned out, Mickelson didn’t even need that final birdie to win his first British Open, but what a punctuation mark it put on what may be the crowning moment of his incredible career.
That is what happens when your late-round contenders are a supremely talented player who generally makes a hash out of any major with Open in the title, a 40-year-old Englishman who has never won a major in 62 tries, and the guy who botched a four-shot lead in the final holes of last year’s Open. With it, Mickelson put the final touch on the major he thought he would never win, his go-for-broke game so unsuited to links golf, particularly at a place like Muirfield, where menacing rough and golfer-swallowing bunkers snare unwise shots without forgiveness. It took 20 years of trying, but Mickelson finally imagined himself around an Open course successfully and etched his name on a Claret Jug.
In this unpredictable mix, Phil Mickelson surged into the lead with four birdies on the back nine and some jittery par saves on the course’s most difficult holes. He had a chance at eagle on the par-5 No. 17, but settled for a tap-in birdie and another birdie on No. 18 gave him a five-under 66 and a three shot lead over his nearest pursuers. “That was one of the best rounds I have ever played,” Mickelson said after his final round 66, which included six birdies and only one bogey. “This is just an incredible feeling. I didn’t know if I would ever develop the game to win this championship. I can’t explain the feeling of satisfaction to finally win this tournament.”
Among those were Lee Westwood, the major-free major talent who had a three-shot lead early in the round only to squander it with a string of bogeys to sit back at even par, and Adam Scott, who famously squandered his chance for a breakthrough victory last year at Royal Lytham. Scott had grabbed the lead with a string of four birdies in five holes mid-round, but dropped it when he sent a tee shot wildly right on the par-3 No. 13 that started a streak of four straight bogeys. It certainly helped Mickelson’s cause that his closest competitors on Sunday all came with psychological baggage heavier than Mickelson’s. After all, Mickelson, despite his travails at both the British and United States Opens, had won four other major titles. Lee Westwood, who brought a two-shot lead into the final round, hadn’t won a single major at age 40 despite years near the top of the world rankings. And Adam Scott, despite his victory in the Masters earlier this year breaking his major drought, had botched a four-stroke lead in the final four holes of last year’s Open at Royal Lytham for his own memorable heartache.
Scott did end his major drought at this year’s Masters and last year’s Open collapse seems to have been relegated to long-term memory. He seemed to be going entirely the wrong direction early in his round with two bogeys, but got hot with three straight birdies to close the front nine before stumbling again. Westwood seemed to be crusing along early in his round, and had a three-stroke lead heading into Nos. 7 and 8, where back-to-back bogeys suddenly sent him reeling backward. On No. 7, he needed two shots to get out of one of Muirfield’s diabolical bunkers and his momentum had hit an insurmountable bump.
Westwood ran into the first test of his nerves on No. 3, when his drive went into the right rough, his next shot went even wider left, scattering fans to the left of the green. The resulting bogey didn’t seem to derail him, because he got the stroke back with a dramatic birdie on the par-5 No. 5, despite driving into a fairway bunker. Scott seemed to take advantage with three straight birdies on Nos. 7, 8 and 9 and had a one-shot lead to himself for a bit, but then he sprayed his tee shot wildly on No. 13 and started a string of four straight bogeys that dropped him from the scene.
His lead disappeared, though,when he staggered to bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8, the one on No. 7 coming when he needed two shots to get out of one of Muirfield’s golfer-swallowing greenside bunkers. He sank a wobbling putt for a disaster-avoiding bogey, but his next bogey dropped him i back and another bogey on No. 13 had him looking up at the lead. Henrik Stenson made a bit of a run, as did Ian Poulter, but neither could keep a head of steam through the punishing back nine. Stenson finished at even par, three behind Mickelson, and Poulter was one over, tied with Scott and Westwood.
Mickelson, who started five shots off Westwood’s lead, got rolling with a birdie on No. 5 with a great approach shot hit out of the rough to the left of the fairway that gave him a short birdie putt. Another birdie on the par-5 No. 9 moved him up closer, although he followed with a poor tee shot on No. 10 for his first bogey of the day. Picture-perfect approaches and consecutive birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 pulled him to one under. He made great par-saving putts on Nos. 15 and 16 to keep himself tied for the lead before moving ahead with the birdie on 17. Tiger Woods, trying to snap his five-year major drought, seemed to have a chance despite a leaky driver, but bogeys kept creeping in at the worst possible times and he settled in to finish at two over.
On No. 18, he hit a great tee shot, but his approach flirted with landing in a greenside bunker. It rolled safely toward the hole and he sank the eight-foot putt for birdie for a dramatic finish. That left the stage to Mickelson, who started the day five shots behind Westwood’s lead, but then managed to avoid the kind of huge mistakes that often mark his Open rounds. He also took advantage of nearly every good scoring chance he had.
The hottest player early on was Ian Poulter, who put together a scintillating run mid-round with an eagle on No. 9 followed by birdies on No. 10 and 11. He is five under for the round to reach even par. He barely missed a birdie on No. 12 after a great approach shot on the par-3, and his momentum seemed to stall there. He had a bogey on No. 16 and settled for a four-under 67 to settle in at one over. He got himself rolling with a birdie on No. 5 with a great approach shot hit out of the rough to the left of the fairway that gave him a short birdie putt. Another birdie on the par-5 No. 9 moved him up closer to the lead, although he followed with a poor tee shot on No. 10 for his first bogey of the day.
Among those struggling early was Tiger Woods, who is trying to snap a five-year drought in majors at age 37, his once dominant career hitting an extended rough patch. Woods started off poorly despite a great tee shot on No. 1, he walked off that hole with a bogey after a poor approach. Bogeys on Nos. 4 and 6 dropped him back further. A birdie on No. 9lifted him back to one over, but he followed immediately by missing the next two fairways for two more bogeys. Still, through 15 holes, he was hanging close to the lead at two over. Picture-perfect approaches and consecutive birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 pulled him to one under, and suddenly he started looking like the man to beat. He made great par-saving putts on Nos. 15 and 16 to keep himself tied for the lead before moving ahead with the birdie on 17.
The relief he showed after saving par on 16, a hole that has tormented him all week including with a four-putt double bogey on Friday, indicated this just might be his day.
On No. 18, finally in position to win, he hit a great tee shot, but his approach flirted with landing in a greenside bunker. It rolled safely toward the hole and he sank the eight-foot putt for birdie. That’s when the emotions took over. She shared a long embrace with his longtime caddie Jim Mackay and then with his family. There was much golf to be played behind him, but he seemed to know he had hogged all the magic on Sunday.
“It was such a great feeling,” Mickelson said of his finish. “I can’t even explain what that was like.”