Golf

And Once Again, Phil Mickelson Misses His Shot At #1

A while ago Phil Mickelson had a shot to claim golf’s world No. 1 ranking – but he missed the cut at the Colonial. This weekend once again gave Mickelson a shot at No. 1 – and he missed the cut at the Scottish Open. Ouch.

This was an especially bitter way to miss, too – Mickelson only missed the cut by a stroke and wasn’t even that bad (3-over 74 for the round) except for one hole. But oh, that one hole. We’ll let the news wire writeup explain.

Mickelson hit three tee shots on the 18th hole midway through his second round on his way to a quintuple-bogey 9.

The three tee shots were because the first two went in the water, although in what had to be a rather frustrating moment for Mickelson, he later realized the second errant drive might have been playable:

Mickelson hit two shots in the water before finally finding the fairway on the 18th, eventually finding his second ball plugged in mud near the bank of the water, but he couldn’t play it because he failed to announced [sic] the third tee shot a provisional.

Fortunately for Lefty, it’s not all bad: as the news wire writeup says, he “now has the weekend to practice at St. Andrews for the British Open,” which is of course the far bigger tournament anyway. Plus, he didn’t sound nearly as upset with himself this time as he did at the Colonial, when he repeatedly chided himself for “terrible” play.

Still, hopefully Mickelson can bounce back with a strong showing at the British Open. Because for all the growth in his game, all the major championships – at times, the guy’s still just snakebitten. (Plus, golf’s more interesting when he’s in contention.)

Photo via