Augusta, Ga. – After finishing a third-round 1-over-par 73 on Saturday, Phil Mickelson sat in the scorer’s hut, glued to the telecast. About 15 minutes later he emerged after a delay that wasn’t as much a case of catching Nick Faldo’s droll British humor, but rather trying to formulate a game plan for the final round.
“I just wanted to see what was going on out there, how things were playing out,” said Mickelson, tied for eighth at 6-over 222.
At that time, it appeared the left-hander’s hopes of defending his Masters championship were completely extinguished. However, hope remained alive when the leaders retreated in the latter stages of their rounds. To the point where, with leader Stuart Appleby at 2-over, Mickelson insisted the run of 16 straight winners coming from the final pairing of the final day could come to an end.
“I’d certainly like to be closer to even par, but even par isn’t going to win the championship,” Mickelson said. “The winner will be over par; I’m just trying to figure out a way to get as close to it as possible.
“A lot of times the final group has played its back nine in almost perfect conditions, but there’s a chance that (today) somebody going off early could shoot a good score and take the title.”
Taking a bath
There has been a long-held story in these parts, perhaps apocryphal, that holds that if an Augusta native should ever win the Masters, all the cars sold by a local car dealer to that point during the month of April, would be free.
If true, things are probably a little hairy out on the lot, with Vaughn Taylor standing tied for fourth, just two shots behind Appleby. Of course, if the dealer wanted to nit-pick, they may want to come up with a birth certificate – Taylor was born in Virginia, his family moving to Georgia when he was about 3 months old.
The closer
Although just one shot behind Appleby, Tiger Woods never has come from behind to win a major. He has held at least a share of the lead in each of his 12 championships. Appleby never has won a major but has held a 54-hole lead on five previous occasions. He has won four times and finished second the other. … The largest 54-hole comeback to win the Masters was by Jackie Burke in 1956; trailing Ken Venturi by eight shots, Burke had a final-round 71 to win by one.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
