Rose wins US Open, edging Mickelson and Day

Rose wins US Open, edging Mickelson and Day












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Justin Rose is the first Englishman to win the U.S. Open in 43 years.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 16, 2013 8:05 PM


ARDMORE, Pa. -- Fly the Cross of St. George next to those red wicker baskets. The U.S. Open has an English champion for the first time in 43 years.

Justin Rose shot a closing 70 Sunday at Merion Golf Clubfor a 1-over 281 total and his first major championship. He finished two shots ahead of Phil Mickelson and Jason Day.

The 32-year-old Rose overcame his share of misadventures on a course that challenged all comers despite being the shortest at a major in nine years. He took the solo lead for good because of others' mistakes at No. 15: Mickelson and Hunter Mahan, playing in the final group, both lost shots on the hole to fall out of a tie for first.

Rose's last shot was a tap-in for par at the 18th, after his caddie removed the pin with the wicker basket on top, the symbol of Merion that replaces the familiar flag. He had chipped it there from the rough just behind the green, nearly becoming the only player to birdie the finishing hole over the final two rounds of the championship.

It's been a long wait for England since Tony Jacklin won the trophy in 1970. Rose has been in contention before, tying for fifth at Olympia Fields in 2003 and tying for 10th at Oakmont in 2007.

The day appeared to set up well for Mickelson to finally win his first U.S. Open. It was his 43rd birthday, it was Father's Day, and it was the first time he had held a solo 54-hole lead at the event. He made eagle from the rough at the 10th hole to retake the solo lead.

Instead, he's a runner-up for the sixth time, extending a record he already held. He was in a three-way tie with Rose and Mahan when his approach rolled back down the fairway at 15. He chipped well past the hole and 2-putted for bogey.

Mahan was the steadiest player on the course, with 13 pars in his first 14 holes, until his tee shot found the rough at 15. He hit into more rough before 3-putting for double bogey.

Rose joins Olin Dutra, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino and David Graham as U.S. Open champions who conquered the tough little course in the Philadelphia suburbs. His day consisted of five birdies and five bogeys. He missed a 5-footer for par at No. 3, but he sank long birdies on the 6th and 7th, then moved ahead of Mickelson with a 20-footer at No. 13.

It was hard to count out anyone who had a place near the top on the board. Merion turned out to be a place where golfers could post big numbers and live to tell the tale -- or at least tread water with everyone else.

But some fell out of contention quickly. Steve Stricker was just one stroke off the lead at the beginning of the day, but his hopes for a first major took a hit when he put two shots out of bounds at No. 2 and settled for an 8. He shot a 76.


Luke Donald also started the round just one shot to make up, but he hit a volunteer with a tee shot on No. 3 and on No. 4, took off his left shoe and sock to play his ball next to Cobbs Creek. He shot a 75.

Charl Schwartzel went briefly under par, then went the other way with a streak of bogeys that led to a 78.

Mickelson was the overnight leader at 1-under, but Lefty was scrambling from the start. His tee shot at the first landed in the rough, but he nearly birdied the hole when his 30-footer lipped out. He was in the sand at No. 2 yet missed a short putt for birdie. He finally paid the price for his waywardness when he put one in a bunker at the par-3 No. 3 and then 3-putted for a 5 that left no one under par for the tournament.

While the leaders were waiting to tee off, Tiger Woods went through the motions of extending his majors drought into a sixth year. It was an unfamiliar sight to see the world's No. 1 golfer teeing off on a Sunday more than three hours before the top pairing, but he was 10 strokes off the lead after a third-round 76 that matched his worst U.S. Open round as a pro.

Woods wore his usual Sunday red shirt, but it didn't keep him from quickly achieving a dubious double -- out of bounds and a 3-putt on the same hole. That made for a triple-bogey 8 at No. 2. He shot a 74 to finish 13 over par.

Sunday was five years to the day since Woods won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. His running tally of majors wins is stuck on 14, four shy of Jack Nicklaus' record.

"I did a lot of things right," Woods said. "Unfortunately, I did a few things wrong as well."

Hopes for a Grand Slam were also officially dashed. Masters champion Adam Scott shot a 75 to finish 15 over for the tournament.

Meanwhile, Shawn Stefani found a unique way to solve Merion: Hit the ball in the rough and get a hole-in-one. His 4-iron at the 229-yard, par-3 17th landed left of the green, bounced down the slope and meandered its way some 50 feet across the green and into the hole.

Stefani nearly jumped out of his skin. Then he kissed the spot where the ball landed.

"We're in Philly," he said. "There's some great fans up here, and I know they can be tough on you and they can love you forever. So I'm sure they appreciated me going to the ground and kissing it."

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Phil Mickelson Finishes Second in U.S. Open for Disappointing Sixth Time

Phil Mickelson Finishes Second in U.S. Open for Disappointing Sixth Time











Ryan Ballengee June 16, 2013 9:37 PM




COMMENTARY -- Phil Mi


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Serena Williams - Day 9 U.S. OpenView »ckelson get yet another tie he didn't want on Father
9;s Day. A tie for second place in the U.S. Open.





The world's No. 1 Dad was No. 2 on the leaderboard at Merion.



The one-liners are easy. Putting a positive spin on a record sixth runner-up finish in the national Open? Almost impossible.



Mickelson was finally supposed to win the Open. This was his. How could it not be? Who was going to beat him? A 46-year-old part-time golfer? The guy who flubbed away the 2010 Ryder Cup? A guy wearing octopus-print pants? The guy who, not too long ago, resorted to putting with his eyes closed?



As it turns out, it was the last guy. It was Justin Rose's time, capturing the U.S. Open at 1-over-par 281. A steely resolve and brimming confidence combined to give Rose just enough fortitude to make a closing par at the 18th hole and force Mickelson to be the player to break an 0-for-145 birdie-less streak at the East Course's daunting finish.



Instead, Mickelson made it 0-for-146 at No. 18 and 0-for-23 in the U.S. Open.



Snakebitten? That was Snead. Maybe for Mickelson the proper term is phrankenfished.



Mickelson's losses in the U.S. Open have come in myriad ways, kind of like the mutant fish combines gnarly aspects of snake and fish. To complete the beast that haunts Mickelson, add in a little the human aspect. Stitched together, it explains the story of the left-hander in this championship.



It began in '99, with Payne Stewart nipping Mickelson with a 20-footer on the final hole at Pinehurst No. 2. Snake.



Three years later, Mickelson was serenaded on his birthday by the Long Island crowd at Bethpage Black...all the way to a solo second-place finish to Tiger Woods, then the greatest hunter in golf. Fish.



A couple of years after that, Retief Goosen putted like God on back nine at Shinnecock Hills to deny Mickelson the U.S. Open yet again. Snake.



In 2006, Mickelson had the U.S. Open in his hands on the 72nd tee at Winged Foot, but with one wild swing of the driver, he dropped it and instead choked himself. Human.



Once again at Bethpage in 2009, Mickelson had his chances in a Monday finish, but was too far behind to catch Lucas Glover, who 6-ironed his way through the last hole to capture his only major. The consolation prize? He owned the record most runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open. Fish, since he ran out of water in which to swim.



So what's this Open?



Snake? No. Asps don't bite players who make eagles.



Fish? Maybe. Phil burnt so many edges on Sunday that it's hard to argue his ball was swimming in a different pond.



Human? Seems so. Phil's big mistakes -- the two double bogeys on Nos. 3 and 5 -- were partially undone by the magic he created at No. 10. But it was a pair of shots from inside 125 yards that did Mickelson in, first at the 13th, then at the 15th. Both brought about bogeys, which was the difference between a playoff and a six-pack of runner-up finishes.



Now, Mickelson is left to wait another year for the Open, only to have to return to where this heartbreaking decade-and-a-half began, at Pinehurst No. 2.



Pinehurst No. 2 has been reborn, redesigned by architects Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. Maybe that's where Mickelson is to finally exorcise all of those shoulder-slumping, head-grabbing moments. Maybe that's where Mickelson will no longer have to be gracious in defeat as someone else celebrates winning a championship they don't desire in nearly the same way he does.



Maybe Mickelson's torment in the U.S. Open doesn't run back to Pinehurst, however. Maybe it goes all the way back to the beginning.



Phil Mickelson was born on this day 43 years ago in 1970. Englishman Tony Jacklin won this championship five days later. How fitting, perhaps then, that an Englishman denied Mickelson.



Father's Day? Birthday? No. It's Groundhog Day.



Ryan Ballengee is a Washington, D.C.-based golf writer. His work has appeared on multiple digital outlets, including NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Follow him on Twitter @RyanBallengee.

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/

Phil Mickelson a champion despite finishing second, again, at the U.S. Open

Phil Mickelson a champion despite finishing second, again, at the U.S. Open











Eric Adelson June 16, 2013 10:12 PMYahoo Sports




ARDMORE, Pa. – Suddenly, everyone started running.



Hundreds of fans jogged, then sprinted toward the 18th green. They clambered over ropes and trampled manicured fairways. Course officials, there to watch and monitor a normally serene golf crowd, flashed looks of panic in their eyes when they saw the mob.

"MARSHALS!" one yelled. "We need HELP!"

There would not be enough help. There were too many fans, too many people wanting to run at Phil Mickelson, wanting to see him make the chip that would go down in golf history as the shot that forced a playoff and saved his dream of winning the U.S. Open.

Fans slid into bunkers, climbed trees, lost shoes. "This is not a good idea!" said one. "I'll never find my boyfriend!" wailed another.

They ran anyway, kicking up mud and mire behind them like colts in spring. All for a 43-year-old lumbering rock star with a lopsided grin and a history of arthritis.

All those unruly fans, rimming the final hole, finally held perfectly still when Mickelson bent over his shot. So few of them could see the ball around all the heads and shoulders, and nobody cared. They could hear. They could sense. They were there.

Mickelson's chip went up in the air and he ran up the swale after it.





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Phil Mickelson stares at his chip on the 18th hole as a crowd behind him looks on. (USA Today)Then the moment was gone. Mickelson had missed his last chance at a tie for first with Justin Rose, finishing second in America's championship for a record sixth time. The fans turned and slouched away.



Heartbreak. That's the word Mickelson used over and over again to describe what he called "very possibly" his most difficult loss. In U.S. Open history, he's the symbol of the near miss, right down to the way his putts rimmed the cup again and again on Sunday in a final-round 74 to finish two shots back. Mickelson, always in second place.

Yet in golf lore, he's something else completely.

There's no rhyme or reason to how Mickelson lost the U.S. Open – again. It felt all day like greater forces were propelling him to win. On 14, after a drenching rain, the sun came out only moments before Mickelson dropped a beautiful chip within par distance. He made it. On 15, Mickelson heard the whoops and shouts of the gallery on his left as he walked, and a rainbow emerged on his right pointing down toward the 17th green where he hit the shot of his life only a day before.

Destiny seemed to await there. Up on the green, USGA commissioner Mike Davis quickly tiptoed to the edge of the putting surface to remind Mickelson's caddie to pull the flagstick (or standard in this case) to avoid a penalty. He was doing his job as a rules official, making sure the player didn't err.

"Bones!" Davis whispered, hand cupping his mouth, gesturing in the direction of the wicker basket. All this came after the shot of the tournament, on 10, when Mickelson pulled a wedge and lofted his approach onto the green and directly into the cup for an eagle and first place at the time. The distance of the shot was wonderfully perfect for Philadelphia: 76 yards.

All that lined up for Mickelson, and all those fans lined up, and still somehow fate didn't line up. The putts he so beautifully traced all week danced by holes, around holes, and ultimately away from holes. The dagger was on 16, when Mickelson stood up on a plateau where he could see the championship green at 18, and he pushed a par putt ever so slightly out to his left.

"That's it," one official said quietly.

How could he say that? This was supposed to be Mickelson's day, Father's Day, his 43rd birthday. Fans serenaded him on every single hole.

"I think I heard 'Happy Birthday' 18 times today," said playing partner Hunter Mahan. "Hopefully I don't wake up tonight screaming Happy Birthday."

There was still hope, though, even after all those missed putts. Mickelson needed a birdie to tie Rose at either 17 or 18, and damned if those fans weren't ready to burst out from the ropeline, grab Lefty's golf ball and slam it into the hole. Mahan's a popular guy on Tour and with fans, but it was as if he wasn't even there. Tiger Woods has huge crowds and din wherever he goes, but this was a different noise. This was urgent, pleading noise. This was almost alarming.

But Mickelson had no more magic. He missed a long putt on 17, pulled his drive on 18, and couldn't hit the green with his Bubba-Watson-at-the-Masters shot from the trees. All he had left was that impossible chip, made to seem so possible by thousands of friends who had never before been within 100 feet of him.

It wasn't to be.

Moments later, after the mob had thinned and the remaining sunlight had ebbed, Mahan spoke about his friend.

"He's a great leader," he said, "and being in golf you don't hear that word very often as a leader. But he's really a leader in the game and he takes his time out to talk to the young guys … He really relishes that role and enjoys it. He's a great guy to admire."

That, in a way, allows what happened to Mickelson Sunday to make a little bit more cosmic sense. Anyone can show people how to win, but how can someone lead in losing?

After Mahan was finished answering questions, Mickelson approached the microphone with his usual Phil gait and his usual Phil smile. If any golfer ever had an excuse to clam up, it was Mickelson. How many athletes simply vanish without a word?

Yet all the answers spilled forth.





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Phil Mickelson (left) hugs his father after the final round of theU.S. Open. (USA Today)"I should have made bogeys on those holes and I let them become doubles …"



"Thirteen and 15 were the two bad shots of the day that I'll look back on where I let it go …"

"I think this was my best chance …"

"This one's probably the toughest for me, because at 43 and coming so close five times, it would have changed the way I look at this tournament altogether, and the way I would have looked at my record. Except I just keep feeling heartbreak …"

"If I had won today or if I ultimately win, I'll look back at the other Opens and think that it was a positive. If I never get The Open, then I'll look back and I think that, every time I think of the U.S. Open, I'll just think of heartbreak."

So many people around the country wanted Father's Day to be Phil's Day. Yet fatherhood really isn't about winning anything. It's about guiding younger people to be better. It's about acting in a way you would want the next generation to act.

"He plays golf the right way, the right way you want your kids to play," said Mahan, "and that's by having fun and acting right on the golf course."

No one can ever say Phil Mickelson hasn't done that.

After answering all the questions, the second-place finisher walked slowly back to the scorer's trailer. His eldest daughter, Amanda, born the day after his first U.S. Open heartbreak in 1999, wasn't there. She had strep throat. His wife, Amy, who hugged him after his most recent major championship, was home with Amanda and another child who wasn't feeling well.

Mickelson was greeted on his way by Jill McNeil, a woman who lives on the course. Her property was taken over by the USGA starting back in April. McNeil could look out her back window this week and see generators and trucks and enough wires to trip an army.

McNeil walked up to Mickelson, grabbed his hand and said, "I just want to say it's an honor to have you walk on my driveway."

Mickelson looked her straight in the eye and smiled.

"Thanks," he said, "for all you do."

And away went Phil Mickelson – the U.S. Open's all-time runner up, and the sport's truest champion.

Atricles Course: http://golfatn.blogspot.com/