Mickelson 32 Going on 40

It was both Father’s Day and Phil Mickelson’s 32nd birthday Sunday, so he has plenty to be grateful for. He has a beautiful wife, two lovely daughters, millions of dollars in the bank, three houses, one jet airplane and 20 victories.

No major titles, mind you, but nobody’s perfect. There were a bunch of players who lined up to trip Tiger Woods on his march toward the U.S. Open title at Bethpage Black, but Mickelson was the only one who came close.

In the end, whatever Mickelson had, it wasn’t enough. It’s never enough, we have learned, now that Mickelson’s streak without a major title has reached 40.

It would be safe to say that in any sport, when a top player goes 0 for 40 it’s considered a slump ... either that or a trend.

Woods began the day with a four-shot lead, bogeyed two of the last three holes and still won by three shots. At least it was a good show for a while, when Mickelson two-putted for a birdie at the 13th and moved within two shots of Woods.

Then as the soggy 102nd U.S. Open came to its end and the flashbulbs lighted up the growing darkness at the 18th green, Woods accepted the U.S. Open trophy for the second time. Standing behind him was Mickelson, the guy with the blue shirt and visor and the frozen smile, positioned comfortably in the background once again, like some sort of stage prop.

Maybe he was thinking about his closing round of even-par 70 that meant he still couldn’t catch Woods, despite Tiger’s two-over 72, his worst of the week.

The flashbulbs kept lighting the faces on the green. Mickelson stood still. He was second. It’s beginning to look as if he might just be a second-place guy.

At least second is a familiar position for Mickelson, it not a particularly pleasant one. He has been runner-up in three majors, second to Payne Stewart in the 1999 U.S. Open, second to Woods in last year’s PGA Championship and now second to Woods again, and in the U.S. Open again.

If you’re Mickelson, at some point you just have to step back and give thanks for whatever is on your side of the ledger.

He has good health, one of the sweetest short games out there, loads of charisma and more than $20 million in earnings in his career. He is one of the most successful golfers in history, given the fact that only one player has won more. It’s Woods, of course, who passed the $30-million mark with his victory Sunday.

At this point in his and Mickelson’s relatively young careers, Woods still is putting some distance between himself and the field. But what happened at Bethpage Black this week may actually vault Mickelson to the vacant position of chief rival to Woods. Hey, somebody has to do it, might as well be Mickelson.

Woods continues to pile up victories (he has 32), major championships (eight), money ($30,246,327) and has further extended his dominance, which is what you have to call it when you’ve won six of the last eight majors and seven of the last 11.

Mickelson, meanwhile, continues to add to his reputation as somebody who has never won the big one. Whether that bothers him depends on his mood, although the sound bite he offers now is that he’s OK with it, that he’ll get one, that his time is going to come.

There is some substance to the Mickelson position. Nick Price won all three of his majors after he was 32. Gary Player won five of his nine majors after his 32nd birthday, and Jack Nicklaus won nine of his 18 major titles after he turned 32. Most golfers believe they mature in their mid-30s, so that has to be good news for Mickelson, who seemed to handle his latest setback with graceful acceptance.

Let’s face it, what could he do? Only one player shot better than him over 72 holes at the demanding Bethpage Black and it was Woods. The only player Mickelson didn’t beat was the No. 1 player in the world. The only player who shot under par was Woods.

And from 10 shots back Saturday to within two shots of Woods early Sunday, Mickelson was the only one who made any kind of a move on the leader.

The challengers dropped out, one by one. Sergio Garcia faltered to a 74. Padraig Harrington had a 75 and Jeff Maggert a 72. Woods even gave his peers an opening when he three-putted the first two holes for bogeys, but only Mickelson stepped up, even a little. That had to be a good sign for the guy doing the chasing.

Woods has reached the halfway mark of the Grand Slam, with the British Open coming up next month at Muirfield in Scotland and then the PGA Championship at Hazeltine in August, so Tiger is looking at making major history. The only player to win all four majors in one year is Bobby Jones, 72 years ago.

Meanwhile, Mickelson has his own targets. He would like to make some history of his own in a major, win the big one, end his streak. Then it would be somebody else’s turn to finish second.

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Falling Short

*--* How Phil Mickelson fared at U.S. Open: ROUND 1 2 3 4 Tot Par 3s E +1 -1 E E Par 4s +1 +2 E +1 +4 Par 5s -1 E -2 -1 -4 PUTTING ROUND 1 2 3 4 Avg Putts 31 31 26 28 29

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