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Mickelson dons Sunday worst, again

Final-round 75 drops him out of contention as he remains winningest player on tour without a major title.

By BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times,
published June 18, 2001

TULSA, Okla. -- He finally beat Tiger Woods.

It still felt lousy.

Phil Mickelson saw a golden opportunity to win his first major championship slip away again Sunday, shooting a final-round 75 at Southern Hills Country Club when a score of 69 would have put him in a playoff.

"It was a difficult day for me in that I didn't play the way I would have liked, obviously," Mickelson said. "I didn't have the same feeling I did the first three rounds, where I really felt I could get to this golf course, make some birdies."

Mickelson made just one birdie Sunday and ended up in a tie for seventh, six shots out of today's 18-hole playoff between Mark Brooks and Retief Goosen. Woods was a shot behind in a tie for 12th.

It was Mickelson's 10th top 10 in 31 majors as a professional and third in a row. But Mickelson, 31, who has 18 PGA Tour victories, more than any active player without a major, again made the crucial mistakes that have haunted him on Sundays.

The biggest he pointed to came at the ninth, a relatively benign par 4. Mickelson failed to hit the fairway and made bogey. "That's the hole that really turned it for me," he said.

Another blunder came at the par-5 13th, where Mickelson easily could have reached the green in two but hooked his approach to the short side of the pin. He chipped on to 6 feet and missed the birdie putt, then botched the short par putt.

Mickelson has nine top-10 finishes this year on tour, including eight top threes. But he has one win. It is mostly because of a Sunday scoring average that is nearly a stroke higher than his other rounds.

But unlike at the Masters, where Mickelson finished third behind Woods and David Duval and spoke about eliminating the mistakes that plagued him, he took a more upbeat approach.

"Last year I played well in the majors and had zero chances to win," he said. "This year I've had two chances to win going into the final round. Granted, I didn't come through, but it was exciting to have a chance.

"I really thought that I should have been winning major championships in the mid '90s. I had a great shot at Shinnecock ('95 U.S. Open) and some Masters, and didn't do it. And I would leave really dejected and feeling down. It certainly wasn't the finish I would have liked, but I'm tired of beating myself up time after time."

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