Grin helps Phil bear it as Open slips away

PHIL MICKELSON exited Royal St George’s as he entered it this week— with a huge grin and the warm appreciation of a knowledgeable British Open crowd.

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.