By John Hawkins
Photo By J.D. Cuban
May 18, 2007
The flag from the 18th green was signed, savored and delivered within five minutes after the final putt had been holed. "Take a look at this," Butch Harmon whispered, unrolling the square of yellow nylon just handed to him by caddie Jim Mackay. "To Butch, the 1st of Many!" is what Phil Mickelson wrote in the upper-left corner, as if anyone who can successfully repair an oversize golf swing in less than three weeks should be commended as quickly as possible.
About five years ago, Mickelson visited Harmon's teaching headquarters in Las Vegas and discovered a wall of similarly inscribed flags from Tiger Woods. Philly Mick seemed impressed, at which point Butch suggested that alterations to Mickelson's over-the-top technique might lead to his own collection of souvenirs, all suitable for framing. So it took the guy a while to get the point. In hard heads live long memories.
From shorter backswings, it might be added, come very large rewards. As overhyped as the Mickelson-Harmon alliance might have seemed just a month ago, Lefty's 31st career victory last week at the Players suddenly makes it an early candidate for storyline of the year. Of the 1,157 competitive rounds Mickelson has played on the PGA Tour since his professional debut in June 1992, one would have little trouble classifying his Sunday journey around the Players Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass as the most polished, stress-free performance of his career.
Of course, some forms of stress are easier to diagnose than others. "First thing I've been able to eat all day," Mickelson's longtime manager, Steve Loy, quipped afterward as he peeled the skin off an orange.
Mackay, who has been on Lefty's bag from the beginning, referred to the closing 69 as "certainly the best I've ever seen him play." Yes, there have been hundreds of lower scores over the years, and the final-round fireworks at the 2004 Masters won't soon be forgotten, but this was clinical, controlled, highly educated golf from the opening birdie on the first hole to the inconsequential bogey Mickelson settled for at the 18th.
He hit 16 greens overall, including the first 13 of the day, and consistently executed high-percentage shots to the broad sides of those putting surfaces. Lefty could easily have shot 65 if his putter had been more cooperative--he missed five birdie chances inside 15 feet--but his speed on the greens was superb. Still, the missed opportunities allowed third-round leader Sean O'Hair to lurk dangerously until a pair of water balls produced a quadruple bogey at the par-3 17th. A few deep breaths and one bogey later, the poor kid had tumbled from two strokes off the lead to claim sole possession of 11th.
Life ain't fair. Just ask O'Hair. "I told Steve [Lucas, his caddie and father in-law] that I wasn't playing for second," he mourned. "I took it [the tee shot] right at the pin, hit a great shot and obviously the wind was helping when I thought it was more across. I got kicked in the [butt] on 17. You've got to make something happen. I didn't bust my butt for four days to get second place, so obviously I paid for it."
Oh, did he ever. We're talking about a $750,000 train wreck, and though Lucas defended O'Hair's decision to play a 9-iron to a back-right pin 135 yards from the tee, it seemed like one club too much even before it was swung, particularly given the circumstances. This was the 71st hole of a tournament with the game on the line--any experienced champion will tell you that adrenaline adds 10 yards to such a shot. O'Hair had knocked a 9-iron to within five feet of a deep pin the day before. Twenty-four hours later, there was a lot more to consider than the actual yardage.
"The best he could do with a wedge is the top of the ridge," Lucas said, referring to an area in the center of the island green. "That would leave him 30 feet. He was committed to hitting it close."
It ended a fascinating duel and rendered no trace of an unjust verdict--Mickelson began the day one back and clearly outplayed O'Hair, carrying himself like a man in no mood to wine and dine the ghosts of Winged Foot. To whatever degree last June's U.S. Open collapse has haunted Lefty in the 11 months since, this victory dispelled the notion that he'll never recover from those 72nd-hole blunders. It's also fair to say that until Mickelson played an extended stretch of pressure golf at a near-flawless level and reeled in one of the few trophies that actually matter, those demons weren't going away.
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