Monday, June 17,
2002
Mickelson
comes up short again
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
FARMINGDALE, N.Y.
(AP) - Phil Mickelson will tell you he didn't back down from Tiger
Woods. And true, Lefty was the only one with even a glimmer of
hope as the storm clouds cleared out Sunday in the U.S. Open.
It hardly mattered,
though. Mickelson had too many strokes to make up in the final
round, especially when his target was the greatest player of this
-- and maybe any other -- generation.
So the wait goes
on.
The Best Player Never
to Win a Major dropped to 0-for-40 in the biggest tournaments,
even though he certainly didn't fade on the last day.
"It would be
much more difficult if I didn't have a shot at it," Mickelson
said. "But that doesn't take away my disappointment or feeling
of lost opportunity."
Mickelson, whose
final-round average in 11 previous Opens was 74.1, shot par 70
on the strenuous Bethpage Black Course. All it got him was another
runner-up finish, his second in the Open and third overall in
a major.
Woods, only 26, won
his eighth major championship _ and seventh of the last 11 _ by
a comfortable three strokes.
Mickelson, who marked
his 32nd birthday on Father's Day, always figured he would have
one or two by now.
"If I keep putting
myself in these positions," he said, showing no sign of losing
hope, "I'll get one of those breaks and win one of these."
Oh, this story is
getting soooo old _ especially for Mickelson, who had a blank
look on his face at the 16th hole when an 8-footer to save par
slipped past the cup, ending whatever hope he still had.
Mickelson had another
bogey at 17, his mental edge gone as a short putt lipped out of
the cup. By then, he just wanted to enjoy the raucous _ and sympathetic
_ cheers of the gallery on the walk up the final fairway.
"This is one
of the most exciting days I've had in golf," he said.
Mickelson was clearly
the people's champion on the people's course. When the scoreboard
along the 18th green posted a birdie for Mickelson on the first
hole, the stands erupted. The cheers got louder when bogeys went
up for Woods on the first two holes. The lovefest didn't let up
all the way around the course.
"I have never
seen a crowd behind a player the way they were today with Phil,"
said Jeff Maggert, who played with Mickelson.
In the end, it didn't
matter. Instead of knocking off Woods, Mickelson introduced himself
to Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper, who had seven top-3 finishes
in the majors without ever winning one.
Mickelson now has
matched that unwanted mark.
His first runner-up
finish in the Open _ in 1999, when Payne Stewart sank a 15-foot
birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win by a stroke _ was OK. Mickelson's
wife, Amy, gave birth to their first child, Amanda Brynn, the
following day after a difficult pregnancy, and Mickelson insisted
he wouldn't have hung around for a playoff, anyway.
There was no child
arriving this year on Daddy's special day, just another heartbreak.
Mickelson was in
no mood to discuss Woods' place in history.
"That's a conversation
I don't care to be a part of," he said. "I certainly
respect him as a person and a player, but it's tough enough to
work on my own game without trying to worry how good someone else
is."
Clearly, though,
he realizes that the world's No. 1 player has set a very high
bar. For perhaps the first time, Mickelson acknowledged that his
soft physique is a hindrance.
Mickelson vowed to
work as hard in the weightroom as he does on the driving range.
"Coming into
this week, I thought even-par would be an incredible score,"
he said. "I did that, but now I realize that I've got to
raise that level if I want to win tournaments when Tiger is playing."
At least there's
still time. Mickelson has won 20 times on the PGA Tour, more than
anyone else without a major. Ben Hogan had 29 victories before
his first major. Sam Snead's first came with 27 wins on his resume.
Mickelson started
the final round five strokes back and birdied the first hole,
getting a fortunate kick out of the rough. Woods followed with
three-putt bogeys at the first two holes, pulling Mickelson within
two strokes.
The margin never
got any closer.
Mickelson switched
putters midway through the tournament, which improved his control
on the green, but he still didn't make enough.
He closed within
two strokes again with a birdie at the par-5 13th after a 49-minute
rain delay, but Woods came along in the next group and birdied
it as well.
That was it. Mickelson
finished with an even-par 280.
"It's certainly
tough," he said, "when you spot the best player in the
world five strokes."
The last 10 months
have been particularly excruciating for Mickelson. He finished
second at the PGA Championship, losing to David Toms by a stroke.
He was stared down by Woods at the Masters, winding up third by
four strokes. Now, another runner-up finish.
Earl Woods, Tiger's
father, watched the tournament on television from a nearby hotel.
He doesn't know Mickelson, doesn't know if he has the mettle to
ever beat Woods in a major.
But the elder Woods
does know one thing: Tiger's not coming back to the field.
"If you look
at it objectively, you can see him improving right before your
eyes," Earl Woods said. "Just watch him and see."
Mickelson, a student
of golf's long history, has been watching from the best seat in
the house since Woods arrived on the PGA Tour in 1996.
Surely, he must be
wondering if he's a victim of fate, a fine golfer who just happened
to be born at the wrong time. But he wouldn't dwell on those sort
of things Sunday.
"The more chances
I give myself," he said, "eventually I'm going to break
through."
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