AUGUSTA -- Sometimes, metal railings get in the way.
One from a grandstand left of the fourth green at Augusta National hurt Phil Mickelson’s chances for a fourth Masters title Sunday. A triple-bogey six on the 240-yard par-3 hole dropped Mickelson from contention. It took him all day to climb back from the disaster -- but birdies on the remaining par-5s (Nos. 8, 13 and 15) only got him to where he started the day at 8 under par. Good enough for a tie for third place, two strokes behind playoff participants Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen.
“It happens,” Mickelson said, summing up the bad break.
Shot No. 1: A 4-iron tee shot went to the left -- where Mickelson was aiming -- hit the railing and ricocheted under a bush. Mickelson located the ball in a nearly unplayable position. He said he couldn’t take an unplayable lie because there was no place to go except back to the tee box. So in typical Mickelson fashion, he improvised.
Shot No. 2: Taking a right-handed stance, the left-hander stabbed at the ball but barely advanced it.
Shot No. 3: He tried again right-handed, and his ball came out short of the green on the well-trampled grass near the grandstand.
Shot No. 4: He played a wedge off the hardpan and put the chip in the greenside bunker.
Shot No. 5: His blast from the sand nearly went in but stopped a foot away.
Shot No. 6: A putt for triple bogey and the adventure was finally over.
“Where the pin was is the hardest par on the golf course,” Mickelson said. “You can’t be in the bunker and you can’t be on the green right of the pin and be able to make par. Tactically, what I try to do there is aim left of the pin and try to hit the left edge [of the green], or in the bunker or left of the bunker where I’m chipping up the green into the slope. Usually I can get that up and down and make par, and if not, I make a four.
“If it goes into people and stops right there, no problem; if it goes into the grandstand, no problem. It hit the metal railing and shot into the trees.”
Mickelson said he never considered returning to the tee.
“Well, then I have the hardest shot again,” he said. “I’m looking at five at best, probably six. I felt like it was worth the risk.”
Unfortunately for Mickelson, it wasn’t his only triple-bogey of the week. He took a seven on the par-4 10th hole in Thursday’s first round.
Two holes, six strokes over par -- and he missed the playoff by two strokes.
“I’m certainly not satisfied just being in contention,” said Mickelson, who played in the final pairing with Peter Hanson. “I love having the opportunity to win, to compete on Sunday, to come down the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win. That is what is fun. I had a great time today. It’s certainly disappointing not getting it done.”
Mickelson's realistic chance to get back in the tournament was lost when his eagle putt on No. 13 skimmed the hole. He birdied to get back to 7 under. He has seven career eagles on No. 13 but needed another. He birdied No. 15 but could climb no closer.
Hanson, who started the day with the lead at 9 under, had troubles of his own. Two birdies in the final four holes pulled him back to 8 under and a share of third with Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Matt Kuchar.
With eventual winner Watson and Oosthuizen in at 10 under and headed for a playoff, Mickelson and Hanson were left wondering what could have been.
“We were walking down the 10th hole and cheering each other on, saying we were going to make a move,” Hanson said. “We knew we were a couple shots behind. It didn’t really work out, but it’s like we said coming up the last hole, we just didn’t play well enough today.”
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