Mickelson wins 2nd major

[POJO_Risin]

Mickelson won the PGA...shoulda ran away with it...but in typical Mickelson fashion...flopped a shot from the deep shit to about 2 feet...and hit the birdie putt to win by a stroke...2 in 2 years...the only player other than Tiger to win a major in back to back years in the past 10 years...

Phil will win at least 5...

would like to see Sergio step it up as well...

anything to keep Tiger from rolling upto 18 majors (Jack's record) easily...

When Mickelson is on...he's just as tough to beat as Tiger...

he's just a fucking eyelash away from a different plain...

[POJO_Risin]

Loved how he touched the Nicklaus plaque before he hit that flop shot...classic move...that will go down as one of those clutch pressure shots...

and Phil's not to known for many of those...lmfao...

[POJO_Risin]

Mickelson wins second major at 87th PGA Championship Aug. 15, 2005

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) -- His spirits soared when Phil Mickelson realized a birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Baltusrol would allow him to win the PGA Championship. Then he reached out for an extra bit of luck he didn't need.

Ten yards beyond his ball in the middle of the fairway was a stone plaque to commemorate the 1-iron Jack Nicklaus hit into the 18th green when he won the 1967 U.S. Open. Mickelson reached out with his 3-wood and tapped it twice.

"A little touch for some good karma," he said.

Mickelson delivered another dramatic finish to his second major title Monday, flopping a chip from the deep grass some 50 feet from the cup for a tap-in birdie that gave him a one-shot victory over Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn.

Ultimately, he might do Nicklaus a favor as a threat to Tiger Woods' pursuit of the Golden Bear's record 18 major titles.

Mickelson's victory, which stretched over five days because of Sunday evening storms, gave him a second consecutive year with a major championship. Woods is the only other player to do that in the last 10 years.

Elkington and Bjorn made par on the 554-hole closing hole, and all they could do was watch on television as Mickelson played the chip shot first learned in his backyard as a kid.

"If there's anybody you'd back to get up and down from there, it's Phil Mickelson," Bjorn said. "He's not a one-major guy, he's a 10-major guy. And it's going to be easier and easier for him to win them now."

This one wasn't easy.

Mickelson had the pressure of being in the lead four straight days. A putting touch that been so true the first three rounds began to abandon him. He returned Monday morning for what amounted to a four-hole shootout.

"I had to gut it out and just find a way to make some pars, and find a way to make a couple of birdies," Mickelson said. "I'm just ecstatic that I was able to get it done."

Mickelson closed with a 2-over 72 and finished at 4-under 276. It was his fourth victory of the year, matching Woods and Vijay Singh for most on the PGA TOUR this year.

Woods couldn't leave New Jersey until he knew someone could beat the 2-under 278 he completed Sunday afternoon before storms halted play. He wound up in a tie for fourth, two shots behind. The Masters and British Open champion came up four strokes shy of a shot at the calendar Grand Slam.

Elkington (71) missed a 10-foot birdie on the 18th hole that grazed the left side of the cup.

Bjorn (72) had a 20-foot birdie on the final hole that looked good all the way, until it dove in and out of the right edge of the cup. His left hand was in the air to acknowledge the crowd, then he grabbed the bill of his cap in disbelief.

"I had a putt that pretty much the whole world didn't think would miss, but it did," he said. "That's what golf is sometimes. The best guy won this week."

It was the first Monday finish at the PGA Championship in 19 years. Not since 1986 at Inverness had a player from the last group won with a birdie on the 72nd hole at the final majors. Bob Tway made his by holing a bunker shot to deny Greg Norman. Mickelson's chip wasn't nearly as dramatic, but it was equally effective.

"It was a shot that I struggled with out of the rough this week," Mickelson said. "I tried to remember some of the shots I hit as a kid in my backyard. I hit it aggressively, and the ball popped up nicely, and it rolled smoothly."

The winning putt wasn't anything like the 18-foot birdie he made last year to win the Masters.

There was no need to jump for joy this time.

"Expectations are a little different," Mickelson said with a coy smile, referring in part to the length of the putt, and the fact he had already shed the label as the best to have never won a major.

But this one was important.


Phil Mickelson won both of his major championships with birdies on the final hole. (Getty Images)
"Before I even won Augusta, I had never really doubted that I would eventually do it," Mickelson said. "And having not won a major or come close this year, I didn't doubt the fact that it would happen again. I just didn't know when. I'm very fortunate and very pleased and excited that it was this week."

Davis Love III started the final round tied with Mickelson for the lead. He still had a chance to catch him when they returned for the final four holes, but he let birdie chances get away by either leaving himself too far from the flag or missing putts he so desperately needed. He shot 74 and tied for fourth with Woods.

Singh had an outside chance to become only the second repeat PGA champion in the stroke-play era, but he missed a 10-foot par putt on the 16th when play resumed, bogeyed the 18th and wound up with a 74 to tie for 10th.

The Monday morning finish slightly dampened the highly charged atmosphere at Baltusrol, although it didn't take Mickelson & Co. long to fire up the crowd in the 56 minutes of golf.

Lefty quickly rolled in a 3-footer to clean up his par on the 14th, and while no one in the three groups ahead could make a move, Mickelson came back to them by catching a plugged lie in the bunker on the par-3 16th. He could only blast out to 20 feet and made bogey, leaving him tied with Elkington and Bjorn.

It came down to two par 5s that played entirely different in softer, cooler conditions.

Mickelson was in the fairway on the 650-yard 17th -- no longer reachable because of damp fairways -- then hit wedge into 10 feet and saw his birdie putt roll off the right lip.

The biggest break of all was when Elkington and Bjorn failed to make birdie on the last hole.

"I really thought I needed a 4 to tie," Mickelson said. "I hit a good drive to be able to go for the green in two, and found out that neither of them made birdie. It was kind of an emotional boost, because now I feel as though it's my tournament to win, as opposed to fighting for a playoff."

He tapped the Nicklaus plaque to gather some positive thoughts and was surprised his 3-wood didn't continue its fade onto the green. With one last piece of work left, Mickelson came through with a deft chip.

"There's a lot to be said to be the last guy out there, having the final say," Elkington said.

Pouring everything he had into his final shot at a major this year, Mickelson emerged anew as a continuous threat to Woods' pursuit of Nicklaus' record in the majors.

[Romeo Delight]

I thought he was going to choke...

In his interviews it seems like he is wondering if that fart leaked in his pants!!!

Some weird facial mannerisms fo sho!

[VHdamaco]

im happy for lefty...

he did almost choke it away, but got his shit straight and won it...

how about woods though coming from damn near missing the cut be tying for 4th? thats not bad at all considering he normally chokes when he's in that position...

[seenbad]

Normally chokes when he's in that position???

Anyways, yes, good for Phil. Now DL3 needs to tack a few more on.

Phil will still be known for the man boobies though I'm afraid. Just like Colin Montgomery will always be known to me as Mr. Doubtfire. :)

[VHdamaco]

let me restate, every time i hear of tiger trying to come back from a score like he did, he doesn't do as well (choke may have been to strong a word)...

but don't take offense to anything i say about golf, it's probably wrong since i don't pay that much attention to it other than the majors. so what i said about woods is probably wayyyy off....

[POJO_Risin]

How about Woods...

"I was working out in Florida during the last four holes..."

This is just me here...but don't you think that if you were Tiger Woods...you'd be out on the practice range...waving to all the top four or five guys on Monday morning...

you know...

"Hey guys...see you in the playoff..."

Major fuck up for Tiger...a guy who professes to want to break the majors record set by Nicklaus?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Probably nailing that Swedish poontang.... :D

I heard some comparisons of this today to the Randy Moss situation, where he walked away from the field before the Hail Mary pass was thrown....

I would never compare the two, in their attitudes....

But the more I think about it, two pretty similar situations....

[POJO_Risin]

I don't know...there's a lot you can say about Woods...and how he acts...

thing is...Woods really doesn't act any different than Nicklaus did in the beginning...

I certainly wouldn't compare the fuck up that Moss is as a person with Woods...and can't figure out why Woods would leave...it goes against the grain for him...

1. Giving the other players props...saying that there was no way they would drop the 2 shots to tie...

2. Then whining about the wet course...lmfao...as though the PGA could control the weather...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Yeah, but like I said...

The two situations are not too far apart...

Moss leaves before the Hail Mary, an unlikely but possible scenario....

Woods leaves before the final few holes in which the leaders are only two shots ahead of him, once again an unlikely but possible scenario...

[POJO_Risin]

Actually...the Woods playoff is a more likely scenario...

at one point...when Mickelson and someone else were -3...he was only 1 off the lead...

[DlocRoth]

Mickelson will never go down as one of the greats....even if he somehow does win 5...

He looks like Droopy...LOL

Like he just had lipo and he hasn't had the extra skin cut off yet...

Great short game though, I'll give him that.

[POJO_Risin]

overrated short game...risk taker...and imaginative...but just as often fucks up...as he does make good shots...

overrated putter as well...misses to many clutch puts...

[ashstralia]

Gow cuts up rough about Mickelson's 'arrogant' attitude
August 19, 2005



Australian Paul Gow has lambasted USPGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson, saying the American's on-course persona is totally at odds with his locker-room attitude.

World No.3 Mickelson enjoys a popularity with American galleries matched only by Tiger Woods, but journeyman Gow says the left-hander's image on the course is not mirrored in the clubhouse.

Gow was blunt yesterday when asked about suggestions that Mickelson was not widely popular with his peers.

"No, they wouldn't feed him," Gow told 2KY's Big Sports Breakfast.

"He ignores the other players, he is an arrogant person. He is the opposite - what you see on television is totally different to what he is around the clubhouse.

"And Tiger is the opposite - he will talk to you, he will sit down next to you at lunch and ask about your family and stuff. Phil is the opposite.

"He has done some great acting classes in Hollywood and they have worked out for him."

Mickelson, 35, won his second major championship on Monday by claiming the USPGA at Baltusrol by one stroke.



Gow's comments may come as a surprise to some golf fans, especially as Mickelson was such a popular winner when he finally broke his drought in the majors by winning last year's US Masters at Augusta National.