Despite homely play, Lefty puts on good face
SAN DIEGO - His job as a contender in the 108th US Open over, Phil Mickelson turned into a spokesman for his hometown Chamber of Commerce.
Better to talk about the successful staging of the championship than to rehash his four days of troubles.
"I think that as I look back, I am so proud to be from San Diego," said Mickelson, now 0 for 18 in bids to win the US Open.
The only thing is, this was the first time he had a chance to play one in his own backyard, so the fact that he went 71-75-76 to sit miles out of the lead made yesterday's final round bittersweet.
On the bright side, he shot 3-under-par 68 to break par in the US Open for the first time since the third round of 2006. He finished tied for 18th.
But on a down note, one has to wonder how much the collapse at the 72d hole that cost him the 2006 victory has affected him, because in eight majors since, Mickelson has just one top-10 after having had 17 in the previous 29 before the Winged Foot debacle.
Not that that was a topic of conversation after he made birdie at the 18th to close out his only good round of the week. No, Mickelson instead focused on his schedule. It includes three weeks off, then it's back to work - hopefully with a more polished game.
"I'll have some work with [Dave] Pelz and some work with Butch [Harmon] to get as sharp as I can," said Mickelson, who'll next tee it up at the Scottish Open in preparation for the British Open (July 17-20).
"When I do come back and play nine out of 12 weeks, [I want] to be playing as well as I possibly can."
He certainly didn't this week, but again, enough of that. How about the way this championship was pulled off?
"I'm disappointed I didn't play well," said Mickelson, "but I'm not disappointed [with] the way this championship is shaping into form and the way that San Diego has been presented. This has been awesome."
Prepping for overtime
Today's head-to-head match between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate will be the 33d playoff in US Open history, and the first since 2001 when Retief Goosen beat Mark Brooks at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, Okla. . . . Woods is 2-0 in major championship playoffs, beating Bob May in a four-hole playoff at the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla CC, and getting past Chris DiMarco in a sudden-death duel at the 2005 Masters . . . In his PGA Tour career, Woods is 10-1 in playoffs, his only loss coming against Billy Mayfair in the 1998 Nissan Open. He's won his last eight playoffs. Mediate is 2-0 in playoffs, but hasn't been in one since 1993 . . . D.J. Trahan closed with a 72 -286 to finish joint fourth, the first time in five major championship starts that he's even made the cut . . . Playing in just his second major, John Merrick closed 71 -287 to finish joint sixth . . . With Lee Westwood having come up short, it means the European drought in this championship is at 38 years.
Closer's role
When Heath Slocum birdied the par-5 18th to record a 6-under 65, it established the low round of the week and enabled him to leap 49 players to settle into a share of ninth. His effort was the lowest final round in a US Open since Paul Azinger shot 65 at the Olympic Club in 1998 . . . Two of the three amateurs to make the cut - Rickie Fowler and Derek Fathauer - were paired together, but it was the third, Michael Thompson, who actually earned the gold medal for having the low score. Thompson closed with 72 -292 to finish joint 29th, while Fowler (72 -297, joint 60th) and Fathauer (75 -299, joint 69th) were down the list . . . Tied for first with 68s after Thursday's first round, Kevin Streelman (72 -295) and Justin Hicks (78 -301) faded badly and eventually finished T-53 and T-74, respectively . . . Speaking of leaders, Stuart Appleby had a one-stroke cushion through 36 holes, but went 79-75 to plummet into a share of 36th . . . Hopefully no one was yelling, "Hey, Brandt," because the boys in pairing No. 33 might have gone dizzy. Brandt Snedeker, paired with Brandt Jobe, went 71 -288 and finished T9; Jobe signed for 73 -290 and was T18 . . . Paired with Mickelson, Brett Quigley shot 75 -297 to finish T-60 . . . Having at one point early in Round 1 shared the lead, Patrick Sheehan put up a solid showing in his first US Open. With a closing effort of 73 -292, the Providence native finished tied for 29th. Certainly, he had no problem making par, because there were 53 of them for Sheehan.
Final thoughts
One bright spot for Mickelson - he birdied the 18th all four days. Then again, that really wasn't as impressive as it sounds, because a few others played it under par all four days, too. Rod Pampling played it in three birdies and an eagle, Eric Axley had an eagle and three birdies, while Robert Karlsson went for four birdies . . . Some other scoring tidbits: The par-4 12th was a bear of a hole and some players discovered that more than others. Young Argentine Andres Romero made a quadruple bogey and three bogeys to play it in 7 over, while Joe Ogilvie and Stewart Cink each played it in 5 over, never making anything better than a bogey. Aaron Baddeley made four consecutive bogeys . . . Romero truly had the scoreboard-operators reaching for all kinds of colors to his numbers. He had 17 birdies, 16 bogeys, 4 double bogeys, 1 quadruple bogey, and just 33 pars . . . After playing it in 3 over for the first four days, Paul Casey finally solved the par-5 18th. He made a birdie to close 73 -298 . . . It took until the second hole of the fourth round, but Vijay Singh finally made a birdie on Torrey's frontside . . . There was a contingent of 11 British subjects in the field, but only six made the cut - Lee Westwood, Casey, Oliver Wilson, Luke Donald, Robert Dinwiddie, and Ross McGowan. Then there were five, because Donald, citing a wrist injury, withdrew after the 14th, a hole he birdied, no less . . . And you thought all they ate out here was tofu and avocados. Think again, because according to the San Diego Union Tribune, 200,000 hot dogs were consumed by fans in the first two rounds alone.
