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SPORTSTuesday 16 February 2016
Mickelson leaves Pebble with optimism and disappointment
DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP)
— The 5-foot birdie putt to
force a playoff at Pebble
Beach spun out of the left
edge of the cup, and Phil
Mickelson couldn’t be-
lieve it. He bent over and
braced himself, the left
hand on his knee and the
right hand on top of the
putter.
“It never crossed my mind
that I wouldn’t make that
one,” he said.
That brief image of shock
and dismay — Mickelson
on the green, the ball still
visible because it’s not in
the cup where it’s sup-
posed to be — was remi-
niscent of a half-dozen or
so major championships
he felt certain he was go-
ing to win.
But let’s not get carried
away. The Masters is eight
weeks down the road.
This was the AT&T Pebble
Beach Pro-Am, a big deal
to Mickelson for a variety
of reasons, but a loss that
most likely won’t linger.
It was all set up for the
45-year-old Mickelson to
join Mark O’Meara as the
only five-time winners of
the tournament. More im-
portantly, he was poised
to end the longest victory
drought of his professional
career, which now stands
at 53 starts worldwide since
he won the claret jug at
Muirfield in 2013.
He took a two-shot lead
into the final round over Hi-
roshi Iwata of Japan, with
only two wins on the Japan
Golf Tour to his credit. None
of the six players behind
him on the leaderboard
was among the top 100 in
the world, and they had
combined for four career
PGA Tour titles.
Mickelson, with 42 victories
on the PGA Tour, has been
around long enough not to
take golf for granted. He
worked hard Sunday morn-
ing with Andrew Getson, his
new coach, and felt good
about his swing. But he said
later that he felt tight, and a year ago and was once
it showed in his short game.
The finish was vintage Mick-
elson.
Right when it looked as
though he had shot himself
out of it, he made a 10-foot
Phil Mickelson reacts after missing a birdie putt on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links
during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament Sunday, Feb. 14,
2016, in Pebble Beach, Calif. Vaughn Taylor won the tournament by one stroke over Mickelson. four shots to Jordan Spieth,
par save with as tough an
uphill putt as there is at Peb- 36th runner-up finish of his
ble Beach on the 16th hole.
He poured in a 12-foot putt
for birdie on the 17th to get
within one shot of Vaughn
Taylor. And then he was 60
feet from the hole in two
on the par-5 closing hole, a
chip and a putt away from
forcing a playoff against
the No. 447 player in the
world, who had gone more
than 10 years since his last
victory.
The chip was fine. The putt
looked good. It just stayed
out enough to the left to
ride the edge of the cup
instead of gravity taking
over.
Thiem wins Argentina Open to take 4th career singles title
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
(AP) — Dominic Thiem de-
feated Nicolas Almagro of
Spain 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-6 (4) to
win the Argentina Open
on Sunday and claim his
fourth ATP singles title.
The 22-year-old Austrian
reached the final after
beating former No. 1 Ra-
fael Nadal in the semifi-
nals. Nadal won this event
nearly unbeatable on clay.
Thiem has won all of his ti-
tles on clay and is ranked
No. 19 by the ATP. q
Mickelson was left with the
career around the world.
“I’m certainly disappointed
that I wasn’t able to put it
together,” he said. “But it
makes me a little bit more
determined to get this back
to where I want it. Obvious-
ly, I’m not quite there yet.
Today I played a little bit
tighter than I wanted to. I
made a few more mistakes
in the short game around
the greens. I didn’t salvage
pars the way I wanted to.
And it just tells me I still need as they once did.
a little bit of work. But I’m
also very close.”
In that respect, it was a big
step in the right direction.
Dominic Thiem of Austria celebrates winning his match against Rafael Nadal of Spain during the
ATP Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016.
much. He was runner-up
in the Masters last year by
and he tied for third in the
Associated Press St. Jude Classic, five shots
behind Fabian Gomez.
Mickelson is sitting out Riv- The year before that, his
iera this week because of best chance was the PGA
his kids’ spring break. He Championship at Valhalla,
will be back for the open- where he was tied for the
ing two events of the Flor- lead on the back nine
ida swing, when the road until Rory McIlroy pulled
to the Masters truly begins. ahead and Mickelson’s
Mickelson is all about win- last chance was to chip in
ning, though in his 25th for eagle (he almost did).
year on the PGA Tour and Mickelson also finished one
already a member of the shot behind in Abu Dhabi
World Golf Hall of Fame, it’s at the start of 2014.
all about the majors. He was driving the ball
If history is any indication, great during the Pebble
these chances might not Beach Pro-Am except
come along as frequently for the opening round at
Spyglass Hill, where he
Not only has Mickelson made an adjustment to
gone 31 months since his his driver to increase spin
last victory, he hasn’t really and it backfired. No harm
come close to winning very there. He still shot 68 and
changed back. His short
game was weak Sunday
by his standards, particu-
larly out of the bunker on
the par-5 second (that
cost him an easy chance
at birdie) and the fourth
and 14th holes (that cost
him easy pars).
Mickelson was gracious as
ever in defeat, and he left
Pebble with as much opti-
mism as disappointment. In
four West Coast starts, he
finished second and tied
for third.
But this was the first time
he stood on the 18th hole
with a chance to win in 18
months.
The measure of Mickelson
will be how long he has to
wait for the next one.q
Associated Press