Grin helps Phil bear it as Open slips away
He came in joking about his erratic play, of the need for the marshals to wear hard-hats and such was his demeanour, added to his woeful record at the British Open, his patchy form this season and the fact that he seemed to have talked himself out of winning at Royal St George’s, that this reporter had written off his chance on the eve of the tournament.
Come last night though, as the clouds cleared above the Kent coastline, Mickelson was taking the applause once more as he strode up at the presentation ceremony as joint-runner-up alongside fellow American Dustin Johnson.
He had missed out again on a British links but he had come closer than he had ever managed before.
“I’m entering this year kind of like a fresh start,” Mickelson had said last Tuesday in reference to his sketchy record of just one top-10 finish in 17 attempts. “I’m not going to worry about past performances, and I’m going to try to learn and enjoy the challenge of playing links golf.
“And I’m having fun doing that. I’m trying to pretend like it’s my first time here.”
Well, it was some debut. The first 10 holes of his final round represented some of the most exhilarating golf you will ever see in a major championship as he moved from a starting point to the day of level par to a share of the lead with Darren Clarke at five under, and then on to six under after 10 holes as the Dungannon man eagled the seventh.
This was pure Mickelson, shot-shaping, putt-making magic.
No second guessing, no regrets golf at its best, and a monster eagle putt of his own at the seventh that had his gallery a-hooting and a-hollering as if they were the most fervent of his fans back across the Atlantic in his home state of California.
“Oh, man, that was some of the most fun I’ve had competitively,” he said after the roller coaster ride had come to a halt outside the scorer’s hut, his two-under-par 68 in the worst of the day’s awful weather having entered the books.
“It was really a fun start, and it was exciting. It was one of those times where you’re not thinking birdie and things were just happening. I’m not planning on making a 50-footer for eagle, but it just happens.
“I hit some of the best shots I’ve hit in the wind, not just today but really all week. I made some great putts today. And then later on when I ended up missing them, I still hit great putts that caught the lip or looked like they were going to go in.”
LEFTY returned the love with that perma-grin of his, even when his round, and his hopes of a fifth major title, started to wane with bogeys at the 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th. And when he sent his second shot at the 18th into the grandstand down the right side of the last green, the grin became a chuckle, a fan celebrating catching it as if he were in the bleachers snagging a foul ball at a San Diego Padres baseball game.
“It was a fun day. When I saw Darren wasn’t going to make a mistake and he played some great golf, when he didn’t make any mistakes there throughout the round, I had to start trying to make birdies, and that’s when I ended up making a couple bogeys.”
Mickelson is often accused, mostly on our side of the pond, of being manufactured and cheesy in the way he interacts with his adoring army of fans but there was nothing false about it to these eyes. He was loving every minute of it and the galleries love him loving every minute of it.
It might have gone pear-shaped eventually but, trophy or not, it was mission accomplished.
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