As the sun set on another multiround day at the U.S. Open for Phil Mickelson, the pack was coming back to him.
Just as he had predicted.
Mickelson left Bethpage Black at 2-under-par through two holes of his final round, five shots off the lead and tied for third. Nearly all the contenders around and ahead of him had made bogeys in the final round before the horn sounded; Mickelson had barely missed two birdie putts on the first two holes.
Coupled with his seven-birdie, four-bogey, one-double bogey third round that he finished earlier Sunday, Mickelson’s confidence that he could play his way into contention today did not seem out of place.
“Anything can happen in the U.S. Open,” he said in the afternoon after his 1-under 69 third round, which he capped with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to get to 2-under and get the crowd juiced up for a big push from their favorite golfer here.
“It was a big psychological birdie for me,” he said. “After I birdied 16, I felt that if I could birdie 17 or 18, I’d give myself a chance for the final round.”
As usual, the huge galleries following and surrounding Mickelson were loudly and consistently supportive, and Phil loved them right back. He gave a golf ball to a young girl wearing a pink shirt and hat between Nos. 11 and 12, even though he was coming off two bogeys and a rough par. In the evening final round, when the grandstands at the second green and third tee were doing a synchronized wave and chanting, “Let’s go Mickelson,” he gave another ball away to a young fan and had his usual, endless supply of hat-tips, fist-bumps and thumbs-ups for all the well-wishers.
“The people here, it’s just incredible,” he said. “It’s made the whole round so enjoyable, the whole week.”
And it’s not over. If Mickelson came here just as a quick escape, to play his last round of golf before a family vacation and wife Amy’s breast-cancer treatment, it’s turned into way more.
He’s five shots off the lead with 16 holes left to play, and everyone around him is starting to falter.
“There are a lot of birdies on this golf course, and there a lot of bogeys and doubles as well,” Mickelson said. “If myself or someone can get a hot hand, the emotion of the event, the momentum can change.”
Tiger tales
Woods needs great round, help.
Tiger Woods’ scores have been so shockingly mediocre over the weekend that if it were anyone else’s name attached to them, no one would give him a chance to win this U.S. Open.
When play resumes this morning at Beth- page Black, Woods will be seven strokes back with 11 holes to play. Seven players sit above him on the leaderboard, so a come-from-behind victory is unlikely.
But is it possible? Heck, this is Tiger Woods, golf’s top-ranked player, the guy who has won 14 majors, including a thrilling U.S. Open victory a year ago.
“You have to play a great round of golf and get some help,” Woods said. “Obviously, it’s not totally in my control. Only thing I can control is whether I can play a good one or not.” Newsday
Hole of the day
411-yard, par-4 18th.
Ricky Barnes missed a 4-foot par putt there that cut his 54-hole lead to one shot, and Phil Mickelson made a 35-foot birdie putt — one of just six at the hole in the round — that allowed him to be within six strokes of the lead with 18 holes to play.
The Associated Press
Walking tall
Bubba Watson.
Fired a 3-under-par 67, the best score in the third round, to get to 1-under and within range of the top starting the fourth round.
Hunter Mahan.
Back-to-back 68s put him at 2-under, tied for fifth, and within six shots to begin the final round.
David Duval.
An even-par 70 moved him up a spot to a tie for third at 3-under.
Downward spiral
Rocco Mediate.
Last year’s runner-up to Tiger Woods entered the third round at 1-over, but a 79 left him tied for next-to-last with one round to play.
Jeff Brehaut.
After two rounds: 2-over 142. Third-round score: 81, the worst in the field.
Mike Weir.
Scores in the first three rounds: 64 (to lead), 70 and then 74 to fall six shots behind entering the fourth round.
The Denver Post
