Pride before the fall: Mickelson strolls to a third major victory
Nothing seemed to come easy for Phil Mickelson in major championships. He didn't win one in his first 46 starts, then needed to birdie the 72nd hole to win both his first (the 2004 Masters Tournament) and his second (the 2005 PGA Championship).
He took a different route to his third major victory, at the 2006 Masters.
Mickelson, who led by a shot at the start of the final round, was up by four after 15 holes and led by three going to the 72nd hole.
"The stress-free walk up 18 was incredible," Mickelson said. "I had been wanting that. I actually had been wanting like a four- or five-shot lead, but three was OK, too. It was a great feeling walking up the 18th at Augusta, knowing that I had the tournament in hand."
That he bogeyed the 72nd hole to win by two shots over Tim Clark (who holed out a bunker shot on No. 18 for birdie and 69) didn't diminish Mickelson's domination.
He shot 70-72-70-69 to finish at 7-under-par 281. He shot 279 when he won at Augusta National the first time.
It was a long final day in 2006 for Mickelson, but he never wavered. He played 31 holes, counting the 13 needed to complete the rain-delayed third round. For those 31 holes, he was 4-under.
The winning total, the highest since Mike Weir shot the same score in 2003, came on an Augusta National course that had been lengthened by 155 yards, bringing it to 7,445.
The changes didn't slow Mickelson, whose play was a continuation of the previous week, when he routed the field in the BellSouth Classic, winning by 13 shots with a 28-under total.
"I knew I was playing well, and I knew I was prepared for the tournament," Mickelson said. "But I still had to execute."
Mickelson became only the fifth champion to win his previous tournament before a Masters victory. Sandy Lyle was the last one to do it, in 1988.
The BellSouth Classic, now known as the AT&T Classic, has moved to May, and Mickelson will skip this year's Masters prelude in Houston.
The ease of Mickelson's win took some of the drama out of the tournament, which had been decided on the 72nd hole or in a playoff in each of the previous three years.
Mickelson led the final round's back nine. That was in contrast to his 2004 victory at Augusta National, when Mickelson birdied five of the final seven holes to win.
"It was an easy 69," said Fred Couples, who shot 71 to tie for third place while playing alongside Mickelson. "He didn't struggle at all."
Instead of the famous leap that followed his 2004 Masters victory, Mickelson stayed grounded.
"It's a lot different than winning with a three-shot lead," Mickelson said. "I prefer the latter, but the latter won't create the leap."
In the final round of 2006, Mickelson took the lead for good with a birdie on No. 8. He went two shots up on Couples on No. 11, where Mickelson made par and Couples missed his third short putt of the day to take bogey.
Couples also made bogey on No. 14, putting him three behind Mickelson.
Though no one made a charge, Mickelson didn't back off. He was pin high in two shots on the par-5 15th, nearly chipped his third shot in the hole for eagle and made his birdie to go up by four.
"I'm glad I was able to finish it off on the back nine because it doesn't always happen that way," Mickelson said.
He said he felt relief when he made the 2004 Masters his first major championship victory.
This time, he called it a "great feeling of accomplishment to be able to beat guys like Tiger (Woods) and Retief (Goosen), Ernie (Els) and Vijay (Singh) and Fred (Couples) and some incredible and talented players."
Woods, a four-time Masters champ, struggled with his putter in the final round. He needed 33 putts, including three three-putt greens, and shot 70 to tie for third place.
Woods, the defending champion, was hoping a win would give a boost to his father, Earl, who was battling prostate cancer in California. It was the first year Earl Woods was unable to make the trip to Augusta since his son made his Masters debut in 1995.
Twenty-four days after the final round of the Masters, Earl Woods died, and his son took nine weeks off to mourn. Woods missed the cut in his return at the U.S. Open, then won the British Open in July.
After the British Open victory, Woods said he wished his father could have seen him win one more time at Augusta National.
"I was pretty bummed out not winning the Masters, because I knew that was the last major he was ever going to see," Woods said.
Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.
