Phil Mickelson proves he still has what it takes to win green jacket

 

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Looking for some karma to mount a charge and get back in the tournament, Phil Mickelson decided to wear the type of pinkish-colored shirt formerly worn by that noted charger, Arnold Palmer, for the third round of the Masters.

 

The wardrobe switch worked. Mickelson shot 67, tied for the low round of the day, and jumped into third place.

 

Sunday, needing something to catch Jordan Spieth, who had a five-shot lead, Mickelson was hoping to borrow some karma from the previous time he won a major championship. In 2013, when he won the British Open, Mickelson came from five shots off the lead in the final round to do so.

 

There was no such magic this time.

 

At least, not enough of it for Lefty.

 

"I needed to shoot something in the mid to low 60s to have a chance and just didn't do it," Mickelson said. "I just didn't play the exceptional round that I needed, and Jordan didn't help any of us trying to catch him. He played an extremely solid round."

 

Mickelson was right. Even though he shot 69 and finished at 14-under 274, which was lower than two of his three scores when he won the Masters, it was still not enough to catch Spieth, who tied the tournament's 72-scoring record in his wire-to-wire victory.

 

Still, Mickelson finished second, tied with 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose – the second major in a row he has had a runner-up finish. That he even made a run at his fourth green jacket was surprising enough based on the way Mickelson has been playing.

 

"The fact is, I would have taken 14 under at the start of the week," Mickelson said, not long after Spieth, 21, became the second-youngest player to win the Masters. "I would have been happy with that. I've played really well to shoot 14 under and I just simply got outplayed by a young player who just played some incredible golf."

 

Mickelson, though, didn't go down without some theatrics.

 

Even with Spieth in control and his chance at an improbable victory slipping away like a ball on one of Augusta National's sloping greens, Mickelson still produced one of those dramatic roars that reverberate through the pines for the second day in a row.

 

On Saturday, it was his 41-foot birdie putt from the lower level at the par-3 16th that electrified the patrons. He followed that Sunday with an even more pulsating moment – holing a shot from the greenside bunker at No. 15 for eagle, allowing him to get within four shots of Spieth.

 

That would be the closest Mickelson would get on this final day, but it was enough to convince this three-time Masters champ that his game is starting to gain some life.

 

"I feel like this is the way I've been playing but not scoring like this," Mickelson said. "This is the first week that I've got the score out of myself that I thought I should. Hopefully [I can] use this as a springboard for the rest of the year because I feel like my game has really come around. This week, I played some good golf and hopefully I'll continue the rest of the year."

 

Since he won the British Open for his fifth major title, Mickelson had only one top-10 finish. That came in the 2014 PGA Championship when he finished second to Rory McIlroy at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

 

Now he has another, proof that Mickelson's game rises to another level at major championships.

 

"I don't have probably a great explanation other than I really focus on those events," Mickelson said. "I really work for them with the idea that these are the events that I'm trying to play well in now. It's not my motivation to go try to grind out win week after week. I want to zero in on the four or five biggest events, and I've been fortunate in that I've been able to get some of my best golf out in those events when I focus in on them."

 

And get some good karma.

 

This article was written by Gerry Dulac from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.