Did anyone see Mickelson blow the US Open?

[Kingofalldems]

Oglivie played great--but Phil you had it. Why why why did you hit driver on the last hole?

[fishwax]

1. not just the last hole. he should have thrown the driver in the trash

after about the 12th. I got tired of the announcer harping on it, but then again he was right. Phil coulnd't do the driver justice today.

Even worse was trying to hit that first ball out of the worn-down pedestrian path. I mean, he must have known that par would win and bogey would give him a playoff. He should have just hit an iron back into the fairway with the second shot so he could set himself up with a decent pitch to make his par putt. Why go for the green?

My theory is that having the crowd on his side clouded his judgment--he was too pumped up by those roars ...

[Kingofalldems]

2. The old Phil returned---even his swing

The shortened backswing also went into the trash, he was swinging like Daly. Too bad,I believe what one of the announcers said, that Mickelson is a true artist out there. Some of the shots he pulled off were absolute magic.

[Awsi Dooger]

3. A trio of chokes

Furyk 3-putted a few holes earlier from maybe 20 feet, leaving his first putt 8 feet short. Then he yanks his second shot on 18 and babies the par putt and blows it.

Then Monty changes irons at the last minute and blows it short and right into the worst possible spot. Even if he two putts for bogey he manages a playoff.

I was rooting like hell for Monty. He lost some chances in the pre-Tiger era and I felt bad for him after that, the only older major European star from the Ryder Cup teams who hadn't won a major. No feeling sorry for him anymore. He had a gift wrapped US Open today with Tiger out of the picture. Bottom line: double bogey on 18.

You guys haven't been paying attention. Phil abandoned his conservative game after 2004. In 2004 he was in much better shape, shortened his backswing off the tee and played many more punch shots with a cutoff follow through. Also less wild against-all-odds shots when he missed the fairway. After he won the 2004 Masters, only the punch shots with the cutoff follow through remained in his arsenal and mindset. He got fat again, lengthened his driver swing and is as ludicrous as ever with shot selection. He can get away with that at Augusta, and last year in the PGA he played brilliantly the first two days then held on for dear life while playing way over par on the weekend.

Phil is incredibly talented and in his prime, but today was an asinine waste. In fact, worse than Van de Velde in '99. Van de Velde chose poorly with the driver off the tee, but his next shot cleared the hazard and only incredible bad luck with the man made grandstand bounced it back before the water and into the heavy rough.

Phil made three stupid choices today: the driver off the tee then both his 2nd and 3rd shots. The cut driver wasn't working all day. Then he gets word Monty failed to par 18. So where is the fairway wood or long iron? He hit a brilliant fairway wood off the tee on 18th during the third round. Once he's in the rough and 210 yards away, he can lay up and be 50/50 to win and 90/10 to reach a playoff with Oglivy.

But when he stood up there with the long iron, trying the Superman shot, I said to the people I was watching the tournament with, "now he's got no chance at par and only 50/50 to bogey for the playoff." Turns out I was too high with the 50/50. The third shot is very bad luck to plug in the bunker but I was almost glad it happened, so 3-times stupid didn't get bailed out.

One thing about Oglivy: his swing is long and fluid and terrific to watch, big distance with seemingly little effort.

[Kingofalldems]

4. Phil after the tournament---

"I'm an idiot." His caddie should have grabbed that driver out of his hands. I guess I wasn't paying attention, I did not realize Phil had abandoned the shorter backswing. On his backswing on the 18th tee the club was almost vertical at the top. I can't believe I witnessed that.

[Awsi Dooger]

5. That's a great quote

I still haven't seen any reaction from him. He's lucky you've got a high profile NBA playoff game tonight, and a continuing playoff series, or all the sports shows would focus on his choke and little else.

I have no idea why Phil went back to the long swing off the tee. He came so close to winning the '04 Open and British Open along with the '04 Masters. Once '05 started he was back to his old physique and longer backswing.

Lately he's' been using two drivers, one cut and one draw, but they never mentioned that in the Open. I think he took out the draw driver and replaced it with the 64 degree wedge.

Regardless, I think he plays the cut drive too much and it's not dependable under pressure.

[rocktivity]

6. Maybe it's just as well

It's hardly a secret that nothing would make Phil happier than to wipe Tiger Woods off the map. But had he won, it would always have been the result of Tiger being too bereaved over his father to give the tournament his all. There's a difference between winning and playing not to lose.

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[Awsi Dooger]

7. I was thinking of Tiger trying to stop the Mickelslam

That would have been the big focal point of the British Open and PGA if Phil won today. They may not be thrilled with each other in general, but I think it's much harder for Tiger to accept Phil winning majors than the other way around. I'd have loved to see Tiger interviewed after Phil won 3 straight majors, then 4 straight...

ESPN just showed Phil speaking to the crowd and reporters after the finish. He kept repeating, "I can't believe I did that." Said it was the toughest loss of his career by far. He came to the course in the last few weeks late in the afternoon, envisioning needing four pars to win the tournament...

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Yep. Good!

I don't like the silverspooners who grew up at the country club. Why this guy is considered "everyman" is a mystery to me.
The Professor

[never cry wolf]

10. I don't like the country club silverspooners either

However, I dare say that is 98% of the tour. I saw phil play in person at the US open at medinah while he was still in college, people called his name and he blushed. I also went to Olympia Fields years later after he was established, and he was the same way. He has a great rapport with the gallery, self depreciating but always is polite and thanks fan for encouragement as opposed to most who have no time for the rabble nor even acknowledge they are alive. I like Phil. He's no Lee Trevino but he's no Davis Love III either, in person he seems quite genuine.

[Kingofalldems]

9. A quote from Colin Montgomery yesterday

I paraphrase: "Why do I put myself through this misery?"....."I'll be back next year."