PGA Championship: Mickelson stumbles late again, remains optimistic
Majors | 
Written by BigRed
The similarities were so obvious that at one point I thought about getting up, calling the network and asking them to please stop playing the replay of last week’s Bridgestone Invitational. In pretty much the same way he lost that tournament to Vijay Singh on Sunday, Phil Mickelson made three bogeys in his last five holes of yesterday’s 2nd round of the PGA Championship to drop into a tie for 14th. He is now four shots behind leader J.B. Holmes (-1).
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
| Yards | 435 | 529 | 198 | 446 | 490 | 387 | 449 | 491 | 257 | 462 | 423 | 593 | 191 | 501 | 401 | 406 | 238 | 498 | 7395 |
| PAR | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 70 |
| Rd 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 70 |
| Rd 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 73 |
While Phil’s score of +3 for the day is still an acceptable result on an incredibly difficult golf course, it was the way he fabricated those bogeys that make me shiver when looking ahead to the weekend. After briefly joining the lead early in the round and regaining 2nd spot after a birdie on the 13th, holes 14 to 18 weren’t fun to watch at all: Wild drives, uncharacteristicly poor chipping and a loose iron shot on 16 delivered the impression that Phil Mickelson was not in control of his game.
Technically speaking, Phil is right when saying that he likes his chances for the final two rounds: “Within four going into the weekend, there’s a lot of golf left out here, and the golf course is very difficult; so I think that it won’t be overly difficult if you play well to make up some ground.” I definitely agree on that - I am just asking myself if Phil will be able to regain his mental strength and touch around the greens. Otherwise it could be “Groundhog Day” again on Sunday afternoon.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
nothing special from phil on this pga championship. top 10 will be maximum possible. no so bad, but still a little bit disappointing result.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Phil,
You need to lay off of the muscle building weights. You have lost
your feel of the club.
Roy
August 11th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I have been a “long term” fan of Phil, ever since as an amateur won
the PGA tournament in Arizona while he was still in college.
Have I said that Phil in my book is the “Best Player” all around
it is a real role model for adults and youngters, However I think he so humble when he wins that I suspect that he might ” sabottage”
his success, I Know he wants to win but it has become a trend that he “mentally” gives up to the golf course and the field,I hurts to see a guy like him no finishing the job and “tear up” the field just like TW does, he can do it I know he can. It would not hurt him to get a Sport Psychologist ” guru” to help him figure it out how to turn the page, it is not to late.
I still love the guy!
Respectfully,
CReyes