AUGUSTA – Phil Mickelson wasn’t expecting to play a perfect 18 holes yesterday in the final round of the 65th Masters. What he had hoped to avoid was the kind of mistake that would cost him his first chance at winning a major championship.
Mickelson’s demise came on the 16th hole where he arrived trailing eventual champion Tiger Woods by one shot. With the pin tucked in the back left corner, Mickelson needed to get close to the hole to have a good chance for a birdie. Instead, his tee shot was long and to the right, leaving him 40-feet from the cup. It took him three putts to reach the hole, the bogey dropping him two strokes behind Woods.
“I needed to step up and make a really good swing there and attack that pin and make birdie,” said Mickelson, whose round of 70 left him third overall at 13-under par, three strokes behind Woods. “I just pulled a 7-iron up on that slope. That was a very disappointing shot because I needed to put on some pressure and have at least a good birdie opportunity. When I was looking at that putt, not only was I not really looking at making it, but I was going to have a tough time two-putting, which I ultimately did not do.”
Mickelson, who desperately wanted to win his first major and also establish he could beat Woods in the final group yesterday, made other mistakes. He overshot the fourth green and took bogey, and he also three-putted the sixth green for bogey. He had another bogey on the 11th hole when he hooked his tee shot in the trees. After the bogey on 16, he missed a makeable birdie putt on 17 that would have gotten him to within one stroke of Woods.
“If I’m going to win with Tiger in the field, I cannot make the mistakes that I have been making,” said the world’s second-ranked player. “I’ve got to eliminate those somehow. I may be able to make one or two, but I can’t make as many as I’ve made all week, from double-bogeys on 12 and 14 earlier in the week, to four bogeys today.”
Mickelson, who finished in the top 10 at the Master for the third straight year, was confident he was ready for his showdown with Woods and stayed in the hunt until 16.
“It was disappointing not to come out on top,” Mickelson said. “But I feel as though my game is to the point where I feel like I can finally win these tournaments and contend in them regularly.”
The huge galleries offered their support for Mickelson throughout the round.
“I certainly felt support,” he said. “I think all of the players here felt support from the crowd. They really are the best fans that we have in the game.”