Phil Mickelson’s battling birdie at the final hole gave the world No. 2 a one-stroke victory on Sunday at the US$5.5 million Colonial.
Mickelson’s poor drive at the par-four finishing hole left him with a shot blocked by a clump of trees. But he lofted a wedge over the obstacle and his ball hit the front of the green and rolled up 2.7m from the pin.
He calmly knocked in the birdie putt to claim a one-shot victory over Australian Rod Pampling and South African Tim Clark.
PHOTO: AP
“You have to take risks to win and I tried to do that,” said Mickelson, who said he had to thread his ball over one tree and under another.
“I’m as surprised as anybody I was able to make a three from over there. I’m thinking if I make par and get into a playoff, that would be great. It wasn’t like it was an easy shot, but it came off. It was one of my more memorable ones,” he said.
Mickelson carded a 68 for a 14-under-par total of 266 and his 34th victory on the US PGA Tour.
He claimed his second title of the year, but he trailed most of the day.
Pampling had led for much of the final round, and was in front by one with two to play.
However, his drive found a hazard at 17 and he had to take a penalty. He salvaged a bogey and arrived at 18 in a three-way tie for the lead.
He followed a solid drive at 18 with an indifferent second shot, then left his birdie try almost 1.5m short.
But Pampling hit a poor 2-iron off the 17th tee, and it found the hazard on the right.
He was forced to take a penalty stroke and his third shot was plugged in a greenside bunker. From there Pampling got up and down for a bogey to arrive at 18 in a three-way tie for the lead.
Clark, playing in front, had a birdie putt at 18 from 4.6m that he left short, finishing with a 66.
At 18 Pampling hit a solid drive, but he couldn’t answer Mickelson’s heroics.
“You get to expect him to do that,” Pampling said. “Those guys play those kind of shots. I thought I was in great position. I was obviously disheartened.”
Mickelson had started the round with a one-shot lead over Pampling, but the 38-year-old Aussie pulled even with a tap-in birdie at the par-five first.
Mickelson regained the lead with a tap-in birdie at the second, and was two up after Pampling bogeyed three.
Mickelson bogeyed the fifth, firing his approach shot over the green, and Pampling snaked in a 15m birdie putt at the next to pull even again.
Pampling took the lead with a 1.8m birdie at seven, and made a short birdie at nine to double his advantage before Mickelson two-putted for birdie at the par-five 11th to narrow the gap to one again.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but