GULLANE, Scotland, (Reuters) – After huffing and puffing at the British Open so often in the past, Phil Mickelson finally blew the house down by romping to a three-shot victory over Swede Henrik Stenson in golf’s oldest major yesterday.
The American left-hander took advantage of a jittery last round from overnight leader Lee Westwood by firing a five-under-par 66 for a three-under tally of 281 on a cool and breezy day on the east coast of Scotland.
Mickelson was the beneficiary of a fortunate bounce with his approach shot at the last and after rolling in a 10-foot birdie putt he raised both arms in the air before hugging Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay as his long-serving caddie wiped away some tears.
Muirfield once again lived up to its reputation for providing great champions as the popular Californian picked up the fifth major title of his career.
It was Mickelson’s 20th appearance at the British Open and only the third time he had finished in the top 10.
“That was one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played,” he said as he cradled the coveted Claret Jug in his arms at the presentation ceremony at the conclusion of the 142nd Open.
“I could not be more proud to be your champion.
“To play probably the best round of my career is probably the most fulfilling moment of my career because it is something I thought I would never do here.”
Stenson closed with a 70, ending up one stroke ahead of Westwood (75), Australian Adam Scott (72) and a fired-up Ian Poulter (67) who launched a spectacular last-day assault with an eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie burst from the ninth.
World number one Tiger Woods, like Westwood, was strangely out of sorts and never threatened to challenge for the first prize of 945,000 pounds ($1.44 million).
Fourteen-times major champion Woods, bidding to end a five-year wait for a win in one of golf’s big four events, could be heard muttering darkly to himself throughout the round as he slid to a 74 to take a share of sixth place on 286.
Mickelson, who won last week’s Scottish Open, said his triumph made up for the disappointment of losing out to Britain’s Justin Rose in the last round of the U.S. Open a month ago.
“The range of emotions are as far apart as possible following the loss at Merion,” added the 43-year-old.
“To win here feels amazing but you have to be resilient in this game, you have to accept the losses as well as you accept the victories.
