Mickelson had to hack out of trouble after an errant tee shot in the playoff.
"I made birdies and bogeys, and he just played steadily with solid pars," said Mickelson, who nevertheless moved to second on the World Ranking with the runner-up finish. "Ultimately he won the playoff because he was more consistent. In contrast, I really struggled off the tee, and the back nine was a fight for me."
That it was. While this wasn't quite Winged Foot 2006 revisited, Mickelson certainly made life difficult for himself with that succession of wild and woolly tee shots, a series of events that sadly took the gloss off what previously had been an increasingly impressive performance. By the end of the third round, in the lead and chased by a group of players he could and should beat, that first European Tour win -- his only professional victory outside the United States is actually a European Challenge Tour event, the 1993 Tournoi Perrier Paris -- looked more than likely.
"Winning this tournament would mean a lot to me because I have not played as well out of the United States as I would have liked, especially in Scotland, the home of golf," he admitted after the third round, the charm offensive revving up nicely. "It would mean a lot to have a championship from here. That would be really special. I just think it would be really cool. But there's a lot of work to do before that happens. I'm going to have to play a good round [Sunday] to have a chance."
Prescient words, especially when the weather that had already veered from breezy to torrential over the course of the opening three days decided to present ideal scoring conditions for round four. Suddenly, the really low number was out there, bringing into contention the likes of Els and Sergio Garcia, five and six shots back respectively.
Nothing came from the Spaniard, but the expected rush of birdies was there all right. Both Luke Donald -- newly married and back after a three-week break --and Richard Sterne managed 64s to climb to T-4 by day's end. But the significant move came from Els, a two-time winner of this championship and an enormously popular figure with the sizable crowds.
The big South African, who has been searching vainly for some real form in the lead-up to this week's British Open in Carnoustie, made 11 3s in an erratic 65 that eventually came up one shot short of the playoff. It ended with an unlikely birdie at the last as Els holed out from 30 feet for one last 3, but it was the bogey he made two holes earlier that finished his chances.
"It was a kind of up-and-down round," he said with no small degree of understatement. "I felt good on the range, and it was a beautiful day, but my good play seemed to come in stretches. I'm disappointed with the bogey on 16 and missing a birdie chance on 17. But the finish was nice. I made birdie at that hole every day, so how could I miss?"
Which was probably the question Mickelson asked himself on the two-hour drive across Scotland from west to east, and from Loch Lomond's parkland to the bleak links of Carnoustie. One imagines, too, that the call to Butch was made even before the first sign for the Open Championship was spotted. On the evidence of this Sunday in the sun, much work is still to be done.
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