Sport
A final birdie does it
by Joseph Romanos
And Phil Mickelson claims his rightful place.
How ironic that for 40 years New Zealanders waited for another left-handed golfer to duplicate Bob Charles’s feat and win a Major. Finally, in 2003, Canadian Mike Weir broke through and claimed the US Masters. He must have opened the floodgates, for the 2004 Masters title went, in gripping fashion, to Phil Mickelson.
The popular Mickelson, known appropriately as Leftie, has waited a long time to win a big one and could not have broken through in more dramatic circumstances.
Mickelson, who played the final round in an almost unnaturally serene state, seemed to know that this was going to be his day. He was the only person who seemed sure.
At one point deep into the fourth round, Mickelson trailed Ernie Els by three strokes. Chris diMarco, Bernhard Langer and K J Choi all threatened at times, but Els seemed the most likely. He fired two eagles and played a flawless back nine under extreme pressure to shoot a final-round 67.
Mickelson had to be good to withstand such an attack, and he was stunningly good. Down the years, Mickelson has captivated golf followers with his go-for-broke attitude. He’ll survey an improbable stroke, perhaps over water, and a glint will enter his eye.
The wise old heads would advise him to lay up, but he’d invariably go for the big shot. It made him tremendously exciting to watch, and probably cost him some titles along the way, for Mickelson and percentage golf never really went together.
At Augusta this year, the 33-year-old Mickelson put winning ahead of thrilling. He shot 72-69-69-69 for a nine under total of 279.
Mickelson had a horrific year in 2003, not winning a tournament and slipping out of the world’s top 10 for the first time in nearly a decade. He was rated no more than a long shot before the Masters. Golf World magazine, in previewing 2004, named 30 players to watch and omitted him.
What people didn’t know was that Mickelson underwent huge personal anguish last year. During the birth of their third child, Evan, his wife Amy and the baby nearly died. Mickelson hadn’t lost his love of golf, as some suggested, but had more important things on his mind.
He showed how much he cared at Augusta. After placing third in four previous Masters, he made no mistake this time. During a gripping final hour, there were two holes in one (by Padraig Harrington and Kirk Triplett), Choi holed from 210 metres for an eagle and Els seemed incapable of missing.
But Mickelson came through, showing courage to birdie the final hole from five metres. Only Arnold Palmer, Sandy Lyle and Mark O’Meara had won the Masters with a final hole birdie.
New Zealanders have long known about Mickelson. He was the outstanding player in the American team when the Eisenhower Trophy, for the world’s top amateur golfers, was held in Christchurch in 1990. After an amateur career like his, Mickelson was regarded as a “can’t miss” player. But it has taken him a decade longer than expected to win his first Major.
Mickelson has finished in the top 10 in eight of his nine starts this year and has resumed his rightful place among the world’s golf elite. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bloke.
One of the happiest spin-offs of Mickelson’s memorable Masters win is that it will stop critics referring to him as a choker. Mickelson is one of the finest golfers of his generation and to hear him being derided because he had not won a Major was absurd.
Even during the weekend of the Masters, TV1’s Tony Veitch used the expression when reading a golf report for the sports news. Radio Sport’s Martin Devlin has dined out on that description for years.
Mickelson’s critics have overlooked the magnificent record he has compiled. In 46 Majors before he won at Augusta, Mickelson finished in the top 10 17 times, and the top four nine times. And, don’t forget, he struck the very best years of Tiger Woods.
It’s quite a feat to finish in the top four in a Major. In a tennis match, only two players have a chance of winning. In golf, there are dozens of players in a field capable of winning.
Jack Nicklaus is commonly cited as the greatest golfer ever. He won 71 times on the US Tour, but was also runner-up 58 times. He won 18 Majors, but also finished second, third or fourth on another 36 occasions.
There’s disappointment but no shame in being so highly placed in a Major, and not winning.
Before Mickelson, Greg Norman used to be the “choker king”. Never mind that Norman won two Majors, was the world’s No 1 ranked golfer for four years and won nearly 60 tournaments worldwide.
With Mickelson having broken his Majors drought, who is the best golfer never to have won a Major? I asked Bob Charles once and he named Australian Bruce Crampton. Other contenders include Australians Bruce Devlin, Graham Marsh, Rodger Davis, Norman von Nida and Jack Newton; Japanese Tommy Nakajima, Jumbo Ozaki and Isao Aoki; British and Irish players Neil Coles, Dai Rees, Peter Oosterhuis, Harry Cooper, Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie and Christy O’Connor; Americans Doug Sanders, Miller Barber and Calvin Peete; and, from other parts of the globe, Sergio Garcia, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Liang-Huan Lu (Mr Lu) and Flory van Donck.
--
Page 1 2 
