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.
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS