Phil Mickelson brought both iterations of himself to the Northern Trust Open, displaying them proudly over the four day tournament. Day one saw the player in control of his amazing talents as he carded a 63. Day two who showed up but the player with the amazing talent but uses it in an imitation of Bozo the Clown. Hello mediocre 72. Saturday Mr. Mickelson eagles the first hole and proceeds to stroll around the grounds in a mere 62 strokes acquiring a four stroke lead along the way. This is a position from which he’s never lost a tournament he has to like his chances.
Sunday; final group; playing with good buddy Fred Couples and Andres Romero, Mr. Mickelson eagles the first hole giving the impression that the Thursday/Saturday golfer is on the grounds. Somewhere between the first green and the second tee the Bozo impersonator showed up to stick five bogeys on the scorecard over the next 13 holes. Gulp! Five shot lead is now a two shot deficit.
Steve Stricker, who began the day six shots behind Mr. Mickelson, shot a 32 on the front nine and birdied the 11th and 12th holes. Standing on the 17th tee, with a two shot lead I wonder how much the events of the Bob Hope when three wayward tee shots on the 10th hole lead to a quadruple bogey? The tee shot went left into the trees, but still left him with a shot towards the green. A wedge to 12 feet and a makable birdie putt for a three shot advantage was there for the taking. Unfortunately, that putt needed another revolution to reach the hole. Disappointment. Another hooked tee shot on the 18th hole left Mr. Stricker with a downhill sidehill lie, from which he could only advance the ball to the right side of the green. Mediocre is too mild a word for his chip, which he left 12 feet from the hole. Another missed putt and his round of 67 putt him in the clubhouse at 14 under par.
Fred Couples, who is 49 years old and marking time until Champions Tour eligibility, had the best chances of the day to catch and pass Mr. Mickelson. As has been the case in recent years Mr. Couples was done in by a putter that refused to cooperate. He missed a 3 foot par putt on the fourth hole and birdies from 8 feet on the 6th, 6 feet on the 7th, and just inside 15 feet on the 8th hole. And he still had a chance coming up the 18th fairway. He completely fanned his second shot into the trees on the right and finished at 13 under par.
As Mr. Mickelson stood on the 16th tee, I’m thinking, okay buddy boy lets see what you got because if this goes poorly I may have to vote you for the biggest choke job of this century. From somewhere inside himself, in a place I wasn’t sure he had access to, Mr. Mickelson stuffed a 155 yard nine iron to five feet and made the putt. Good play there, but there are still two tee shots to hit. On the 17th tee he blasted a drive into the fairway from which his three wood reached the green. Two putts for a birdie and a one shot lead heading to the 18th tee. Again the tee shot is in the fairway, but the second shot is right of the green a bit. A chip to six feet and a putt and gone are the thoughts of choker Phil.
“It gives me confidence and something to build on for the rest of the year,” Mickelson said. “Even when I didn’t have my best stuff, I was able to fight through it. That meant a lot to me. I certainly have some work to do. But at least I’m on the right path, the right direction. And I’m having some success now, even without maybe my best stuff.”
Congratulations to Mr. Mickelson on his win, and to Mr. Stricker and Mr. Couples on fine performances for the week. Now we all await the return of Tiger Woods. There has been exciting golf while he’s been gone. It will get even better now.
Your Reaction?- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0