It’s hard to think of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods as the old guard when they’re still mashing 300-plus-yard drives around Augusta National Golf Club. But there was definitely a feeling of change as those two highly decorated Masters champions were reduced to distant pursuers of 21-year-old winner Jordan Spieth.
You can’t get a much better leaderboard in this tournament than one that includes those two names, as Sunday’s did. But in the end, the green grass between the seven-time Masters champions and the young phenom at the top was expansive.
“It’s just generations,” Woods said “When I first came out here it was Phil and I trying to take over from (Greg) Norman and Pricey (Nick Price) and those guys. Seve (Ballesteros), (Bernhard) Langer, all those guys were playing well at that time. Then we came along and Phil and I were part of the younger crowd. Now he’s in his mid-40s and I’m about ready to turn 40. So the roles are reversed. But it’s neat to still be a part of it.”
Woods, trying to make an unlikely bid from 10 back for a fifth green jacket, was done in early because of a faulty driver and a mid-round wrist injury. He shot 73 to drop off the leaderboard altogether at 17th.
Mickelson, starting the day a more reasonable five shots back, tried to exert some pressure. He birdied his second hole of the day to briefly get within four. But Spieth almost immediately answered with a birdie on 1, then Mickelson carded bogeys on 5 and 9 to remain even on the day.
The two continued that de facto sparring match a half-hole apart throughout the final round, with Mickelson desperately trying to create some doubt. His eagle out of the green-side bunker right of No. 15 briefly cut the margin to four with four holes to play.
But as he did all day, Spieth answered once again. He chipped on and birdied from behind the green.
“Well, I played a solid round, but I needed to play an exceptional round and I ended up having three bogeys that kind of stalled my round as I was starting to make a birdie here or there,” said Mickelson, who carded a 69 to finish second at 14-under-par. “I needed to shoot something in the mid-to-low 60s to have a chance and just didn’t do it. 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.”
As it was, Mickelson’s performance this week at Augusta placed him in a tie for second with Arnold Palmer on the career list for runner-up finishes in majors with 10. Jack Nicklaus holds the record with 19.
“The fact is, I would have taken 14-under at the start of the week,” Mickelson said. “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.
Woods, who shot 68 on Saturday, missed short putts for birdie on 2 and 3 and struggled with his driver all day. It finally put him in harm’s way on the ninth hole when he caught a hidden root underneath the pinestraw hitting his approach shot. Woods said the shot popped a knuckle out of place in his right hand but he was able to pop it back in.
“It hurt and it’s sore, but it’s fine,” he said.
Woods bogeyed 10 but finally made a move on par at the par-5 13th with an eagle, his first of the week.
Woods said he’ll take more time off to work on his game and wouldn’t answer when whether he’ll play at The Players Championship in three weeks. But he was obviously much more pleased with the state of his game than he was coming into Augusta.
“Well, considering where I was at Torrey (Pines in San Diego) and Phoenix, to make a complete swing change and the release pattern, I’m pretty proud of what I’ve done,” he said. “To make my short game my strength again was pretty sweet.”
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