Mickelson wins BellSouth Classic

Phil Mickelson warmed up for the defence of his Masters title with an epic victory at the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta this morning.

Delighted by his victory, Mickelson said on www.pgatour.com: “There were probably six to 10 people who could have won this tournament. I don’t know how I dodged the bullet. I’m looking forward to the Masters.

“My swing started to feel good on the back (nine). Somehow I hung in there and got lucky.”

It was heartbreak for Jose Maria Olazabal however, as he missed a five-foot putt for victory on the 54th and final hole, and then lipped out from just three feet on the same green at the first playoff hole.

Olazabal said: “I had a chance to win it and didn’t. Had a second chance and missed it.”

After staying alive with a great chip on the next, the 455-yard 17th, the Spaniard drove into thick rough back at the fourth extra hole (the 18th) and then hit not just one, but two pitches into the lake.

It left fellow major winners Mickelson and Rich Beem to fight it out.

Brandt Jobe and Indian Arjun Atwal had gone into the same stretch of water as Olazabal at the start of the play-off for bogey sixes.

Three days before the start of his Masters defence, Mickelson had planned to take the day off, but instead he was still playing at after 7pm in the US, he and Beem sharing the third extra hole in birdie fours.

It was settled on the next, with Mickelson giving himself the perfect pre-Augusta boost by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt – enough to secure his third win of the season.

While he collected a cheque for US$908,000 (€707,187), the four runners-up each took home ‘only’ US$322,875 (€251,468).

Olazabal was left to rue not only two missed putts, but also a two-stroke penalty in the second round. He hit the sand in a bunker as his ball fell back into it.

The 39-year-old lost his US tour card last season and was playing on a sponsor’s invitation.

If he had sunk either of the two putts he had for victory, he would not just be back as a full-time member, but would also have earned an exemption until the end of 2007.

The quintet tied on the eight-under-par mark of 208, Atwal scoring a best-of-the-week 64. He only came into the tournament only Friday afternoon when the second day was washed out, just like the first, and Steve Flesch withdrew to prepare for the Masters.

Mickelson could have won by sinking a 25-footer for eagle on the last. Having just missed that, Olazabal then gave him a reprieve.

With nine to play, Olazabal was three behind, but he birdied the 10th and 11th and then drove the green on the 310-yard par-four 13th – the hole where he and Mickelson chipped in for eagle in Sunday’s second round.

A two-putt birdie this time brought him into the joint lead and after three-putting the next he became favourite again with a 15-footer on the short 16th. But it all turned sour after that.

Even though it was not on his original schedule, Mickelson had insisted he was delighted to be involved in Monday action.

“I enjoy being able to play a competitive round closer to the start of the Masters on Thursday,” he said. "I have only two days in between now, as opposed to 10 or 11 if I had skipped this event.”

Main rivals Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els are in that position, of course.

“If it blows at Augusta then this will be great practice and it’s a fun opportunity to try to win this tournament,” Mickelson added.

“I love playing the week before a major. I love the fact that we are playing Monday and I love how this tournament has set the course up as close to Augusta as possible.

“The greens are the same, the areas around the green are the same. I think it’s a great place to start hitting the shots that I will need to hit at the Masters.”

Atwal, twice a winner on the European Tour in the Far East, began with a 77, but a second-round 67 enabled him to make the cut with two shots to spare on level par, and he then produced a magical nine birdies to set the target.

Lucas Glover and Frank Lickliter could have made it a seven-man play-off but blew their hopes on the last, both going in the water for a double-bogey seven and bogey six respectively when they were the joint leaders.

Collated Final Scores and Totals in the USPGA Tour BellSouth Classic, The TPC at Sugarloaf, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 72):

(Played over 54 holes due to inclement weather)

208 Phil Mickelson 74 65 69 (Wins at 4th Extra Hole), Brandt Jobe 72 69 67, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 69 69, Rich Beem 70 70 68, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 77 67 64

209 Tag Ridings 72 68 69, Frank Lickliter II 71 70 68, Scott Dunlap 72 68 69, Arron Oberholser 72 68 69

210 Jay Williamson 72 71 67, Hunter Haas 75 68 67, Dennis Paulson 75 68 67, Lucas Glover 74 67 69, Charles Warren 75 69 66

211 Joey Snyder III 71 69 71, Billy Mayfair 68 71 72, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 70 71 70, Bob Tway 71 70 70, Dean Wilson 72 70 69, Justin Bolli 74 70 67, Brian Bateman 72 68 71

212 Franklin Langham 72 74 66, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 69 71, Omar Uresti 71 74 67, Dan Forsman 73 72 67

213 Michael Long (Nzl) 73 68 72, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 72 72 69, Jason Allred 68 75 70, Zach Johnson 75 66 72, J J Henry 73 72 68, Brett Quigley 69 74 70

214 Jonathan Byrd 72 72 70, Paul Claxton 73 72 69, Alex Cejka (Den) 72 71 71, Tom Pernice Jnr. 73 71 70, Andrew Magee 69 74 71, Scott McCarron 69 69 76, Steve Elkington (Aus) 73 70 71

215 Kevin Stadler 69 77 69, Ted Purdy 69 73 73, John Huston 70 73 72, Sean O’Hair 74 70 71, J.L. Lewis 69 72 74, Len Mattiace 75 69 71, John Elliott (Sco) 75 69 71, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 73 72 70, Neal Lancaster 74 69 72

216 Jason Bohn 71 75 70, Robert Allenby (Aus) 74 72 70, Darron Stiles 72 71 73, DJ Brigman 70 74 72, D.A. Points 74 71 71, Peter Lonard (Aus) 74 69 73, Joey Sindelar 72 72 72, Gavin Coles (Aus) 73 71 72, Jeff Brehaut 75 70 71

217 Heath Slocum 73 73 71, David Hearn (Can) 70 73 74, Hunter Mahan 72 71 74, Brendan Jones (Aus) 73 72 72, Eric Axley 75 69 73

218 Steve Stricker 70 73 75, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 75 70 73

219 Stewart Cink 71 74 74, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 69 75 75, Tom Gillis 77 69 73, Rocco Mediate 74 72 73

220 Paul Goydos 74 72 74, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 74 72 74, Casey Wittenberg 75 71 74

221 Jimmy Walker 72 72 77

222 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 74 76

224 Nick Watney 76 70 78

225 Camilo Benedetti 73 73 79

226 Bo Van Pelt 70 75 81.