The Loop
Players Championship 2017: Watch Phil Mickelson wind up inches from the water on 17, still make birdie
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- This will not be a week to remember for Phil Mickelson, but he provided fans with the first highlight at No. 17 on Sunday at the Players.
Playing with Lee Westwood in the second group of the day, Lefty didn't have much to lose when he reached the famed par 3 at TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course. He took dead aim at the back-right pin placement and hit a shot that wound up inches from rolling into the water. Of course, Mickelson then made the putt for birdie. Check it out:
Mickelson closed with 71, a score that would have been better if not for a different kind of "Phil being Phil" moment earlier in the round. From a fairway bunker on No. 10, Mickelson tried to skirt some trees with his approach shot, but he pushed his golf ball a bit too far left and it ricocheted out of play. After dropping in the trap, he made double bogey.
The 2007 Players champ was briefly in contention on Friday, but tumbled off the leader board when he found the water on 17 and then followed that up with a Saturday 78. Still, wherever he finishes, will be an improvement after missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass the previous four years.