The Old Man started hot with birdies on his first two holes.
Could Phil Mickelson do it again at the Masters? Could he put himself in position to win his fourth green jacket? Could he fight fatigue to put himself on the precipice of passing Jack Nicklaus as the oldest champion at Augusta National?
The answers, emphatic “No’s” (we may couch as “Not yet”), came quickly.
After reaching 2 under, the 46-year-old carded one more birdie, three bogeys and one double bogey on his way to shooting a 2-over 74 to fall back to 2 over for the tournament.
The problem was putting. Mickelson hit more fairways (10) and greens in regulation (13) than he did in either of the first two rounds. But he needed 33 putts, five more than the 28 stroked Thursday and again Friday.
Nicklaus was 46 years, 2 months and 23 days old when he won his sixth Masters in 1986. Mickelson will turn 47 on June 16. Possibly showing his age, Mickelson said he was very tired after Friday’s second round, but was optimistic he could make a run on a course that he loves and knows more than any other.
He made one Saturday on the first two holes, he just couldn’t sustain it.
He double-bogeyed No. 3, and added bogeys at No. 6 and 8 to drop back to 2 over, 8 shots behind then-leader Charley Hoffman, off the leaderboard and far enough back to no longer raise the possibility of rewriting the record book.
He hit a 313-yard drive up the left on No. 1 and hit his approach to 13 feet. It was an easy birdie, followed by a tip of the cap and an almost embarrassed smile on the par 4 that had given up only three scores of 3 in the first two rounds.
Mickelson followed that with a 312-yard drive on the par-5 second. His 272-yard approach came to rest 14 feet from the flag. Two putts later he carded another birdie.
Time be danged. Mickelson was rolling.
And then he wasn’t.
His drive on the par-4 third landed in a bunker on the left. His second shot landed 38 yards from the flag. Masterful with the wedges, Mickelson’s third shot instead spun 17 yards off the elevated green. Three shots later he was finally done with a double-bogey 6.
Mickelson recovered to par the next two holes before his tee shot on the par-3 sixth barely finished on the green. His second rolled around the roller-coaster green, stopping 43 feet away. He two-putted for a bogey.
And then things really got bad with bogeys on No. 8 and 9 thanks to more poor putting.
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