THE OPEN | REVIEW
On the
Brink of
Greatness
Muirfield’s staggering record of identifying the very best in the game at The Open continues following the brilliance of a rejuvenated and links-loving Phil Mickelson, writes Alex Jenkins.
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AFP
hat a difference a month makes. Just four weeks before touching down on Scottish soil Phil Mickelson was ruing what he described as his worst ever loss at the US Open – and coming from a man who has now had six runner-up finishes at his national championship, that was really saying something. Father’s Day, the final round at Merion, and Mickelson was looking for all the world like he was going to end the pain. The proud family man, who had taken an overnight, cross-country flight on the eve of the championship so he could watch his daughter’s eighth grade graduation, had a one-shot lead going into the final round. It was also his 43rd birthday. Surely, this was moment the stars were going to align. It was his time. Not a chance. Lefty squandered his advantage with a cruel mixture of poor wedge play and sloppy putting, allowing the seemingly nerveless Justin Rose to pass him by and earn his first major. Such are the pampered lives that modern touring professionals lead that it’s usually rather difficult to feel sorry when things don’t go their way. But in this instance even the most cynical of scribes wouldn’t have begrudged him an ounce or two more luck. When asked what he could take out of the week at Merion, the ashen-faced Mickelson replied, “Only heartache.” So it was with no small amount of surprise 36
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Nobody is meant to birdie four of the last six holes to win The Open, least of all an unpredictable American who in his first 17 appearances at the championship had claimed only one top-10 finish. HKGOLFER.COM
Phil Mickelson coaxes his final putt of the championship into the bottom of the cup for a truly grandstand finish; Lee Westwood could barely find a fairway in the final round as he recorded an eighth top-three placing in a major championship HKGOLFER.COM
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AFP
Tiger Woods and Adam Scott (above) couldn’t handle Mickelson’s pace on an engrossing final day; Ian Poulter came from nowhere with his final-round 67 to earn a share of third 38
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that his trip across the Atlantic would reap such huge rewards. First up, the Scottish Open, Mickelson’s traditional pre-Open Championship workout. He’d never won it before, but on a hard and fast Castle Stuart track Lefty put behind his disappointment and took hold of the course by the scruff of the neck. Wonderful iron play, married with a masterful short game earned him a play-off win over South Africa’s Branden Grace. It was his first ever victory on European soil. It was thrilling stuff but even so, the Open Championship is a different test altogether. Castle Stuart, undoubtedly one of the finest modern courses in the British Isles, was playing generously; the rough was almost non-existent, allowing Mickelson the leeway he tends on occasion to need. Indeed, as we edged closer to The Open, all the talk was of Mickelson’s fellow countryman, Tiger Woods, the opinion being that Mickelson would struggle with Muirfield’s fearsome tall grass and the need to play the ball more along the ground. This was real links golf. The purest form of the game. Popular Phil was the guy who hits the flop shot. Tiger, back to form and looking as focused as ever, was the master tactician. He was the man to beat. This looked to be the case going into Sunday’s final round. Woods trailed England’s Lee Westwood by just two shots. Westwood, the undisputed crowd favourite, had suffered his own fair share of major heartache but Britain,
basking under cloudless skies, was expecting. And who could blame them? Almost a year since the London Olympics – which were a resounding success for the home nation – Andy Murray had won Wimbledon, Rose had emerged victorious at Merion, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome had triumphed at the Tour de France and the English cricket team were hammering the Australians in The Ashes. There has never been a better time to be a British sports fan. Alas, it wouldn’t continue. Westwood couldn’t find a fairway in that final round and his upuntil-then brilliance on the greens went AWOL. Adam Scott, who had banished his own major demons at Augusta in April, looked all at sea with his belly-putter. Ian Poulter was on fire after coming from nowhere but then bogeyed the tough 16th to effectively end his hopes. As for Woods, well he was hardly a factor. Tiger has never won a major when behind heading into Sunday, and things weren’t about to change. Rory McIlroy had worn a face of pure misery on his way to missing the cut by some margin two days earlier, but Tiger nearly outdid him such was his own look of despair. Woods is too fine a player not to win another major but the argument against him breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record haul gets stronger by the tournament. Which brings us back to Mickelson. Five strokes back after the third round, there was barely a whisper from the media. It was only after he birdied the ninth hole on Sunday to turn in HKGOLFER.COM
two-under and find himself well in the reckoning that the BBC decided to it might be a good idea to start showing some of his play. And what play it was. Muirfield has the amazing knack of producing brilliant champions, and Mickelson, who waltzed in with that majestic 66 – the equal low round of the tournament – is definitely that. Four birdies in the final six holes – and a near miraculous par save at the treacherous par-three 16th – is the stuff of legend. Nobody is meant to be able to do that, least of all an unpredictable American who in his first 17 appearances at The Open had claimed only one top-10 finish. Once the dust had settled an hour after Mickelson had holed that curling 10-footer on the last to a standing ovation, Dan Jenkins, the famed American writer who has covered nearly every major championship since the 1950s, told me he classed Mickelson’s performance in the same league as Nicklaus’ own come-from-behind effort to win the 1986 Masters. Jenkins isn’t prone to hyperbole – and nor is Phil. “This is a day and a moment I will cherish forever,” the Champion Golfer of the Year said while still clutching the Claret Jug an hour after the presentation ceremony. “It took me a while how to figure out to play links conditions – it has been the biggest challenge for me to overcome – but now that I have done I couldn’t be happier. It might be the best moment of my whole career.” It just might. HKGOLFER.COM
2013 Open Championship Results 1
Phil Mickelson
USA
69 74 72 66
281
€1,097,570
2
Henrik Stenson
SWE
70 70 74 70
284
€632,990
3=
Ian Poulter
ENG
72 71 75 67
285
€326,174
Lee Westwood
ENG
72 68 70 75
285
€326,174
Adam Scott
AUS
71 72 70 72
285
€326,174
6=
Zach Johnson
USA
66 75 73 72
286
€189,704
Hideki Matsuyama
JPN
71 73 72 70
286
€189,704
Tiger Woods
USA
69 71 72 74
286
€189,704
9=
Hunter Mahan
USA
72 72 68 75
287
€133,567
Francesco Molinari
ITA
69 74 72 72
287
€133,567
11=
Angel Cabrera
ARG
69 72 73 74
288
€108,596
Brandt Snedeker
USA
68 79 69 72
288
€108,596
13= Miguel Angel Jimenez
ESP
68 71 77 73
289
€92,335
USA
74 70 74 71
289
€92,335
USA
75 74 70 71
290
€72,300
Justin Leonard
15= Keegan Bradley
Eduardo De La Riva
ESP
73 73 75 69
290
€72,300
Harris English
USA
74 71 75 70
290
€72,300
Matt Kuchar
USA
74 73 72 71
290
€72,300
Charl Schwartzel
RSA
75 68 76 71
290
€72,300
Danny Willett
ENG
75 72 72 71
290
€72,300
ESP
67 74 76 74
291
€54,937
21= Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Darren Clarke
NIR
72 71 76 72
291
€54,937
Stephen Gallacher
SCO
76 70 76 69
291
€54,937
Sergio Garcia
ESP
75 73 68 75
291
€54,937
Richard Sterne
RSA
75 75 68 73
291
€54,937
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