Co-leaders appreciate their spots
Web posted
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Phil Mickelson (Stats | Bio) (Stats | Bio) has just about done it all in the world of professional golf. Twenty-two victories in 12 years on the PGA Tour, more than $26 million in career earnings and multiple Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup appearances.
Today, the world's No. 8 golfer has his best chance yet to fill the one void on his record - and it's a big one. No major championships.
Mickelson, 33, is tied for the lead in the 68th Masters Tournament with Chris DiMarco (Stats | Bio) , his 35-year-old friend who is also majorless.
DiMarco shot 4-under-par 68 on Saturday, and Mickelson had 69 to bring them to 6-under 210 for 54 holes.
Mickelson is 0-for-46 in major championships, dating back to 1990. He's been the owner of the dubious "best player not to win a major championship" title for more years than he'd like to remember.
Mickelson is in third place in an another unenviable category - most tour victories without a major championship. Harry Cooper has the record at 31, followed by MacDonald Smith at 24.
"For whatever reason, and there's a number of reasons, but for whatever reason, it's been much more difficult for me to win major championships than regular tour events," Mickelson said.
Mickelson and DiMarco are being chased by Masters rookie Paul Casey (Stats | Bio) of England, two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer, three-time major champion Ernie Els (Stats | Bio) and South Korea's K.J. Choi (Stats | Bio) .
Casey had 68 on Saturday and is two shots off the lead. Langer (69), Els (71) and Choi (72) are three back.
The leaders won't have to worry about three-time champion Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) (Stats | Bio), who has his own winless streak in majors going. A 75 on Saturday put Woods nine shots off the lead.
Barring a miraculous comeback, Woods will be winless in his past seven major championships.
Mickelson and DiMarco also won't have to wait as long to tee off today as usual for a Masters final round. The starting times have been moved up because of the threat of scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon.
The first group goes off at 10:30 a.m.; Mickelson and DiMarco hit the first tee at 2 p.m., instead of the normal 2:50. If there is a sudden-death playoff today, it will start on No. 18, not the usual No. 10, the club announced last week.
The winner today will earn a record $1,170,000 - $90,000 more than the winner's prize in 2003 - but that's not on the minds of Mickelson or DiMarco. Winning their first major is.
"He's going to have a lot of pressure on him, too, because he's going to try to get that monkey off there," DiMarco said of Mickelson.
"He's a great player," DiMarco said. "Certainly I don't think he has anything to prove. I know that he hasn't won a major yet, but in my mind, he doesn't need to. He's had a pretty good career."
"I think that you need to win a major to show the credibility that you can play in the toughest conditions," Mickelson said.
Mickelson has played this season with a peacefulness that comes with a tighter swing and improved his accuracy off the tee. The result has been seven top-10 finishes in eight starts, including one victory. He's the tour's leading money winner, with more than $2.3 million.
This week, Mickelson has hit 31 of 42 fairways, which has helped him lead the field in greens in regulation (41 of 54). The only blemishes on his scorecards have been two bogeys and a double bogey. Both he and DiMarco had bogey-free rounds Saturday.
"He's got great talent," Stewart Cink (Stats | Bio) (69 on Saturday for 216) said of Mickelson. "The course is perfect for him. He's long, and he's imaginative around the greens. That's one thing you definitely have to have here."
If DiMarco wins today, he'll look back on the experience he gained in his Masters debut in 2001 as part of the reason. After being the first- and second-round leader (65-69), DiMarco played the third round with eventual champion Woods and shot a respectable 72.
"That springboarded me to do bigger and bigger things," said DiMarco, who has won three times on the tour and is ranked 21st in the world.
Mickelson has had a star-crossed major career. He's been a runner-up in three majors and finished third on five occasions. He's finished solo third in the past three Masters.
This is the first time Mickelson has led a major championship after 54 holes. On the PGA Tour, he's won nine of the 13 times he carried a lead into the final round.
"I still feel as if I need to go out and shoot a low round, but I won't have to catch somebody from four or five shots back," Mickelson said.
One of Mickelson's runner-up finishes in the major championships came in the 2001 PGA Championship. He lost by one shot to David Toms (Stats | Bio) , who made a hole-in-one during the tournament. It might not bode well for Mickelson that DiMarco made a hole-in-one this week, in the first round, on No. 6.
At least Mickelson will have the gallery on his side today, as they have been for most of his career. They know of his major championship trials and admire the way he's faced them.
"It's been a fun challenge," Mickelson said. "I've just really enjoyed the challenge of trying to break through because it has been so difficult."
The leaderboard took on a different look in the third round as Europeans tumbled and Americans took their places.
First-round leader Justin Rose (Stats | Bio) , of England, who opened with 67-71, had 81 on Saturday and dropped into a tie for 20th place, nine shots off the lead.
Germany's Alex Cejka (Stats | Bio) , who was in second place after 36 holes, shot 78 on Saturday and is tied for 16th place, eight shots back.
And two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal (Stats | Bio) , of Spain, tied for second at the halfway mark, had 79 and is tied for 20th.
Casey and Langer took their places as Europe's best hope to win the Masters after a three-year drought.
Mickelson knows he'll have to outduel more players than DiMarco today to break through.
"The way I look at it, although we are leading going into tomorrow, by the time we get out and play, we will be somewhat trailing," Mickelson said.
"There will be guys out in front of us that are going to be making a move. Now, we probably won't be behind them, but instead of leading by two or three, we'll only be leading by one or we'll be tied because guys will get off to a quick start. It happens every year."
"This is the Masters," Cink said. "No matter what kind of conditions we have, the golf course and the Masters itself will cause a few mistakes because there are going to be some nerves out there. This course brings nerves to the forefront like no other place in the whole world.
"The leader is always capable of being caught, because there's a lot of trouble lurking out there all over the golf course."
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
