|
Mickelson finally breaks through at last
Phil Mickelson cast off his time-worn reputation as the best golfer never to have won a major by slipping into the coveted green jacket after fashioning a riveting victory at the U.S. Masters on Sunday.
"Daddy won, can you believe it?", Mickelson's wife Amy said to their young daughter Sophia in the wild celebrations triggered by her husband's one-shot win over Ernie Els.
After 46 fruitless starts in pursuit of an elusive first major, it was no surprise that the gifted left-hander had trouble coming to terms with the fact his long drought had come to an end.
"It was surreal, I couldn't believe it finally happened," Mickelson told reporters after sinking a dramatic 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to close with a three-under-par 69 and a nine-under total of 279.
"To shoot 31 on the back nine and win by a shot is something I will remember forever.
"It's hard for me to explain how I feel. Right now it seems make believe...not real."
With 22 PGA titles to his credit, only two men, Harry Cooper and MacDonald Smith, had won more Tour events than Mickelson without lifting a major championship.
Seven times Mickelson, 33, had been in the top-10 at Augusta, including third-place finishes in each of the last three years.
In the fading Georgia twilight, the spectators surrounded the 465-yard 18th hole from tee to green and shouted encouragement before exploding when Mickelson's final putt dropped into the cup.
"In the past 10 years having come so close, so many times, to have had putts made on me in the last holes, to lose by one shot, to have had good last rounds fall short...to have it be such a difficult journey to win my first major, makes it that much more special, sweeter," said Mickelson.
"It just feels awesome. I think the most difficult part of this journey has been dealing with the losses time after time," added the American, who received a congratulatory telephone call from President Bush after his victory.
"It just gets frustrating. It can wear on you except you can't let it."
The mantle of failure never truly fitted Mickelson.
Long recognised as one of the PGA Tour's finest talents, his inability to translate his success to the majors was always perplexing.
But on Sunday the left-hander's ability and determination were on vivid display.
"I was very confident today good things would happen," said Mickelson. "I had a different feeling playing this week.
"I just had real belief that I was going to come through this week."
|
