SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) – Phil Mickelson is running out of time to validate what quietly has been a good year, minus only a victory.
He is not running out of patience.
Mickelson expects the disappointment from his runner-up finish in the British Open to linger because of how well he played, only to lose to the lowest score in major championship history. He found himself thinking too much about results in the PGA Championship, and along with not making putts, he was never a factor at Baltusrol.
“Certainly, the play this year at the British tells me that I’m able to play at a high level,” said Mickelson, who turned 46 in June and is starting to check out colleges for his oldest daughter, 17-year-old Amanda. “I’m starting to see my game come back. I’m starting to hit the shots again – what I’m visualizing, what I’m seeing – and doing it with ease now.”
He had only two winless years on the PGA Tour, 1999 and 2003, until going the last two years without a victory. The British Open wasn’t his only close call. He missed a short putt at Pebble Beach to get into a playoff with Vaughn Taylor. He closed with a 67 to finish second in the FedEx St. Jude Classic. And then there was Royal Troon, where his 267 was topped only by Henrik Stenson’s 264 in British Open history. Call that a case of bad timing.