Far from Winged Foot and the U.S. Open, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson wondered what in the world was going on with Phil Mickelson.
“Mickelson was two up with three holes to go?” Watson asked. “He bogeyed No. 16 and double-bogeyed No. 18?”
After arriving in Prince Edward Island following a visit to a remote salmon fishing camp at Restigouche River, a Canadian river located in the northwestern part of the province of New Brunswick, Watson and Nicklaus were mostly in the dark about Mickelson's collapse and Geoff Ogilvy's victory in New York on Sunday.
The two golf greats, speaking before a charity golf event at Rodd Brudenell River Resort, were at first hesitant to criticize Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie, who also had a chance to win on the 18th hole.
But both were soon expressing surprise at the shot selections after hearing what happened. Mickelson hit only two fairways all day but still pulled a driver on the 18th tee, still ahead by one stroke. He promptly sliced his ball off the roof of a hospitality tent and into the Open's notoriously tough rough.
The two were even more amazed that Mickelson made matters worse by trying for the green on his second shot rather than getting the ball back on the fairway. Mickelson ended up hitting a tree and advancing the ball only 25 yards.
“He had an easy option to get back into play? Really?” Watson asked.
“Put the ball in play. Go play golf,” Nicklaus added.
On his third shot, Mickelson hit a towering iron that sailed left of the green and came down with such force that it plugged in the bunker.
Nicklaus, who won a record 18 majors and 83 tour titles, said he learned early in his career to not take undue risks when a tournament is on the line.
“You don't ever give up the end of a golf tournament,” he said, adding he learned that lesson in 1963 when he picked the wrong club on the last two holes of an event he was leading and finished bogey-bogey and lost. “I didn't like that feeling and said I'd never do that again, and I never did.”
Watson won eight majors, including five British Opens. He acknowledged it's easy to second guess but said: “What are you playing for? You're playing to win, not be a hero. The only person you have to beat is yourself – and he beat himself. It sounds like he beat himself because he didn't play the percentage shot.”
Ogilvy's parents cheer
Ogilvy's parents always knew their son would win a major. They just didn't think it would be this soon, or at the U.S. Open.
“I screamed, I shouted, I cried, all of the above,” Judy Ogilvy said yesterday in Melbourne, Australia, after her son won his first major championship by one shot when Mickelson fell apart. “It's hard not to get overwhelmed by the whole occasion.
“I knew he was playing well, but we honestly didn't think he would win the U.S. Open yet,” she told Australian Associated Press. “We always knew he was going to win a big one, but we always thought it would be the Masters or the British Open or both. The U.S. Open was never really his strength; it's not really the tournament his game's best suited to.”
Michael Ogilvy said his son was remarkably calm when he called home to share the joy of his Winged Foot victory.
“He said, 'Dad, I've won you a Father's Day present.' I said that's the best Father's Day present you could win for me,” Michael Ogilvy said.
Leong leads event
Monty Leong, head professional at Stadium Golf Center, shot a 3-under par 69 yesterday to take the first-round lead of the two-day PGA Section Championship at Barona Creek Golf Club.
The tournament will conclude today.
Bob Knee and Greg Casagranda are a shot back, with Ross Marcano and Tim Parun two back. Scott Mahlberg, Matt Gibbens, Bruce Nakamura and Cory Scoggin were at 72.
In the senior division, leaders were Rod Linville (74), Paul Marchewka (75) and Craig Frank (78).
