Mickelson feels a little empty

TULSA, Okla. -- Phil Mickelson’s season of majors, which was once so loaded with promise, showed up empty Sunday when he tied for 32nd at the PGA Championship.

Mickelson shot 69 for the second time in four rounds at Southern Hills -- and had 16 straight pars before he birdied the 17th -- but wound up at six-over-par 286 in his final chance at winning a major in 2007.

Mickelson’s three-year streak of winning a major came to an end. He won the Masters in 2004 and 2006 and won the PGA Championship in 2005.

“Certainly what makes a year is how you play the big events. . . my performances in the majors were not what I wanted obviously,” he said, “but I don’t want to be hard on myself because for a couple, I wasn’t able to make the swings and hit the shots I needed to try to hit.”

That’s not how it started. Mickelson won at Pebble Beach, his fourth event of the year, and was second to Charles Howell at the Nissan Open, losing in a playoff. He shot a disappointing 77 in the fourth round at Augusta and tied for 24th at the Masters, but then tied for third in successive tournaments, at the Nelson and the Wachovia, before winning the Players Championship.

After that, Mickelson’s season took a wrong turn when he injured his left wrist practicing for the U.S. Open at Oakmont, Pa., chipping out of the heavy rough. He missed the cut at Oakmont and the British Open.

Mickelson expected more but isn’t complaining about being unable to practice much since he was injured.

“I’ve probably had a three-month suspension it feels like for my year,” he said. “But I feel I’m able to resume. I wish this was a couple of weeks later because I finally was able to start practicing. I just didn’t get all the parts of my game going.”

It was a long, hot and not so bad week for John Daly, who started with a 67, then turned in three consecutive rounds of 73 and tied for 32nd at six over. Daly played the two par-five holes in three over Sunday.

At least Daly made it through all four rounds, which was hardly a given considering his record of 12 missed cuts or withdrawals in 17 previous tournaments.

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” Daly said. “I’ve just got to sit back. It was a good week, just take small steps.”

Simon Dyson’s numbers Sunday: 64 score, 13 greens in regulation, 25 putts, 20 bottles of water.

A former Asian Tour pro, Dyson said his experience helped him handle the heat. “The more you go out to Asia, the more you get used to it, the more you know what to do.”

Fellow South African Gary Player is the captain for the Presidents Cup, and Ernie Els said Player’s comments that at least one pro golfer used steroids would be a topic of discussion with his teammates.

Said Els: “I think we’ll needle him a little bit.”

thomas.bonk@latimes.com