Phil Mickelson's hopes sink as he misses cut and No 1 spot

Published on Friday 9 July 2010 20:26

IT WAS difficult in what were initially abysmal conditions, but many high-profile names were looking on the bright side yesterday at Loch Lomond as their prospects of playing into the weekend dimmed.

Missing out on the chance to pocket 500,000 - and in Phil Mickelson's case, securing the berth of No 1 player in the world in time for the Open - might have proved hard to bear, but if it meant side-stepping another two days of playing in torrential rain then it seemed some were prepared to accept this fate.

More significantly, it also freed up some valuable time in which to head to St Andrews for further preparatory work, ahead of next week's Open. Though the sun came out yesterday afternoon and conditions improved markedly, the game was already up for many - or so it had seemed.

Leading this group was Mickleson, the man who stood to take over as No 1 in the world had he finished in the top two places at Loch Lomond. But the chance of this happening appeared to be one of the few things to evaporate during a wet and dismal first few hours yesterday, although Mickelson's optimism - he said he was not packing his suitcase yet - was shown to be not quite as wild as it appeared at the conclusion of his round, in the early afternoon. While the weather turned for the better, poor scores continued to be scored. Mickelson's 74 yesterday, which included a quintuple bogey nine at the 18th hole, started to look less and less like an early ticket to Fife. Ernie Els, who finished on the same score of three over par for the tournament, was another who had to think again about making a quick bolt to St Andrews. The possibility began to grow of the pair still having work to do here.

In the end, they were disappointed. Or, given the weather forecast for today and their own eagerness to get to Fife, should that be relieved? Mickelson had played steadily enough on his opening nine holes, and arrived at the 455-yard 18th - he had started at nine - having shot par, a not unimpressive score given the circumstances. But then disaster struck. He blasted his drive down the left and into water, and then promptly did the same thing with his next attempt.

While television commentator and former winner of this title Wayne Riley told Mickelson the second ball was actually playable, the left-hander apparently had not declared the third drive to be a provisional and under the rules of golf had to play it. It all added up to a quintuple bogey for Mickelson, who deserved praise for steeling himself ahead of his next nine holes, and coming back in without another dropped shot.

Indeed, two further birdies brought him a score of 74, three shots more than his effort on Thursday. But it didn't rescue his hopes of over-taking Woods at the top of the golf rankings for the first time in his career.

To be fair, the left-hander did not seem too concerned. Having spent the last 254 weeks trailing Tiger, what's a further seven days or so between friends? He has another chance to reach the top next week in St Andrews, although the one added complication is that Woods will also be present.

Here, at least, Mickelson knew that if he did well enough to finish in the top two, then he did not have to worry about how anyone else did. However, it all looked academic after his struggles at the 18th. Woods had been reprieved. Mickelson instead began to set his sights on St Andrews, where he headed straight after his round yesterday with the aim to play a few holes at the Old Course before the day was out. This itself is the mark of a champion. Despite squelching through 18 holes yesterday, Mickelson was prepared to put his disappointment aside almost immediately in order to focus on the next task in hand. After a quick change into dry clothes, he was en route to Fife. He will also be at the Old Course both today and tomorrow, an extra few days' preparation which could be the difference between winning and losing next week. "You always look for the positives," he said, when asked if missing the cut could be to his advantage next week. "I wanted to play more competitive rounds here. But this plus side would be a couple of extra rounds at St Andrews."

Mickelson is trying to arrest a poor run of form at the Open, but finished third at Troon in 2004 having missed the cut at the Scottish Open. "That's true," he said. "I've played well after missing the cut, but I've also played poorly. It just is what it is."

The American is concerned about his driving, and resolved to focus on this aspect as he contemplated a weekend that was suddenly commitment-free. "I started to putt a little better today," he said. "I made some good putts and rolled the ball pretty good. I need a little work with the driver. I think the driver was the one club that wasn't the best, and some of my short irons can be improved." But there was no getting away from the reason he isn't lining up today in the third round at Loch Lomond.

"It wasn't too bad a day (for me] play-wise, except for those two swings - those four penalty strokes hurt the round quite a bit."

He seemed a bit miffed at the delay in having it communicated to him that his second drive had in fact been playable. "It was plugged in the hazard," he said, explaining why he had taken a third shot from the tee. He felt it wasn't even an option to flag his third effort up as a provisional, as he had been informed the ball from his second drive was unplayable. "I probably could have wedged it out a few yards and played it from there," he said.

"But I was signalled that my ball was in the water so I didn't really want to walk 300 yards up and 300 yards back. The ball was in the hazard, so there was nothing to take a provisional for. Once I struck it, it was decided that the ball was in play."zz