Newsday (N.Y.): Mickelson charges, then fizzles out

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- He called it exciting. Said it was "some of the most  fun'' he had competitively. But in the end, after a charge, after a 5-under-par  30 on the front nine Sunday put Phil Mickelson very much into the British Open, his familiar missed short putts took him out of it.

It was a day of sunshine alternating with rain and a constant blustery win, and of cheers that shook the grandstands at Royal St. George's Golf Club. Mickelson provided plenty of those cheers, coming from nowhere, five shots behind Darren Clarke at the start of the final round. His front nine run pulled him into a tie with Clarke at 5 under.

But then Clarke equaled Mickelson's eagle 3 on the 564-yard par-5 seventh hole, going to 7 under and two shots clear of Mickelson. Mickelson missed a short par putt on the 11th, eventually making four bogeys over the last eight holes, allowing Clarke to build a lead of as much as five shots.

Clarke finished at 5-under 275, three shots ahead of Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who was Clarke's playing partner. Though it was Mickelson's best finish in 18 British  Opens -- he had only one previous top-10, a third at Royal Troon in 2004 -- there still was a feeling of what might have been.

"The putt at 11 was just a stupid mistake,'' Mickelson said of the 3-foot miss. "There was nothing to it. It was just a dumb mental error. I just lost  focus, and it hurts to throw away shots like that when I'm behind.''

Two holes later, he got a 9-iron approach up into the wind and flew the green. That bogey dropped him to 4 under. He was three behind, for all intents out of chances. He came in with a 2-under 30-38-68.

"I made some great putts today,'' Mickelson said, referring specifically to the 50-footer for the eagle, "and then later, I ended up missing them . . . When I saw Darren wasn't going to make a mistake, I had to try to make birdies, and that's when I ended up making a couple of bogeys.''

Mickelson said he was happy for Clarke, whose wife, Heather, died of breast cancer in 2006 and  who called Phil when  Mickelson's wife, Amy, was stricken with the disease in 2009.

"He's a tremendous person and a good friend,'' Mickelson said. "It was fun to try and make a run at him.''