His caddie loosened the flag from the 18th pin as a symbol of victory Sunday at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and Phil Mickelson added a personal touch.
“Butch, the 1st of many.” After playing one of his tidiest rounds on one of the most intimidating golf courses, Mickelson signed his name at the bottom of the note and handed it to his new swing coach, Butch Harmon.
Arms around each other’s shoulders, they walked up the hill toward the sprawling clubhouse for the trophy presentation, another sign that Mickelson might be on the rise.
“What’s most exciting is I feel like we’re just getting started,” Mickelson said.
In his third week with a new coach and a new plan, Mickelson suddenly looks better than ever.
He missed only four fairways and two greens, and had only one bogey when it no longer mattered. Mickelson closed with a 3-under-par 69 for a two-shot victory, adding a mini-major to his collection and renewed hope that even bigger trophies await.
“If I keep working at these things and keep progressing, I should be able to take on the ultimate tough challenge at Oakmont,” Mickelson said, already looking ahead to the U.S. Open next month.
Having built a two-shot lead heading to the frightening island green on the par-3 17th, he left the attacking to someone else.
Sean O’Hair paid dearly.
O’Hair matched Mickelson shot-for-shot along the back nine at TPC Sawgrass, unable to convert birdie putts to close the gap.
He felt he had no choice but to go for the pin on the 17th, and was shocked when his 9-iron sailed over the green.
“You’ve got to make something happen,” O’Hair said. “I didn’t bust my butt for four days to get second place. Obviously, I paid for it.”
Mickelson finished at 11-under 277, two shots better than Sergio Garcia, who closed with a 66 with four birdies on the last five holes. But he was only a ceremonial runner-up. The victim was O’Hair, the culprit that familiar and infamous island green.
He hit another ball in the water from the drop area and wound up with a quadruple-bogey 7, and his bogey on the 18th hole gave him a 76 and dropped him from second place to 11th place, a difference of $747,000.
“You can’t force anything on 17 and 18, you just can’t,” O’Hair said. “I had to today. I didn’t have a choice.” Attribute that to Mickelson, who took one hole to erase a one-shot deficit, pulled ahead for good with a par on the 10th hole and didn’t miss a fairway over the final five holes.
Mickelson moved up to No. 2 in the world with his second victory of the year, and the 31st of his career. He earned $1.62 million from the richest purse in golf ($9 million) and trails Tiger Woods by only $60,000 on the money list, and 98 points in the FedEx Cup.
Woods still has twice as many points in the world ranking and likely will stay there for the rest of this year. Mickelson now has a new strategy, a new coach and renewed hope.
“You’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg,” said Harmon, who previously worked with Greg Norman and Woods when they rose to No. 1 in the world. “He’s going to get a lot better.”
Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal fired off a string of birdies for the third straight day and nearly got into the mix.
His fourth straight birdie on No. 12 got him within three shots of the lead, but a bogey on No. 15 stalled his bid and he settled for a 67 to tie for third with Stewart Cink (66).
LPGA Tour: Suzann Pettersen became the first Norwegian winner in tour history, making a 1 1/2-foot par putt after Jee Young Lee missed one from about 2 feet on the third extra hole in the Michelob Ultra Open in Williamsburg, Va.
Pettersen, second twice in her first seven events this year, closed with a bogey-free 3-under 68 to match Lee (72) at 10-under 274. Sarah Lee, who started the day one shot off the pace, finished three strokes back after a 74.
European PGA Tour: Lee Westwood won his first tour title in almost four years, shooting a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke victory at the Andalucia Open in Marbella, Spain.
The English Ryder Cup star had a 20-under 268 total. The victory, his 17th on the European tour, was his first since the 2003 Dunhill Links. England’s Phillip Archer (65) and Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson-Hed (66) tied for second.
