Mickelson wins it with the L-wedge

SPRINGFIELD, NJ -- It came down to one shot.

The one shot you know Phil Mickelson never misses.

Put a lob wedge in his hand and it’s over. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking Torrey Pines or Pine Valley or Baltusrol. The man has the touch. Comes from the billion or so chips he hit in his backyard growing up. Pop the ball out of the rough and watch skid into the hole. Or at least to gimme range.

His signature. Kind of like clutch time for Michael Jordan. No situation too dire, no rough too thick.

And so it was Monday morning. After 71 holes. After holding the lead most all of the way. After struggling through rough spots that would have done in his chances two years ago – or even two months ago. After watching his one-shot cushion slip into a three-way tie.

Mickelson found his zone. His comfort zone. A 3-wood was all but pin high and in the rough. Thirty-five feet from the final pin. No big deal. Not for him.

He scooped the ball out of the grass and, as the blades were still falling around him, he raised his arms in celebration. No way he was missing from 3 feet.

Phil Mickelson PGA Champion. Two-time major winner. No longer just another guy in the club.

One major got him in. This one makes you think there’s greatness still to come.

Phil Mickelson, the people’s choice. Great smile. Wonderful family. A regular, down-to-earth kind of guy the fans can fist-five with, not one that awes them. Even if President Bush, No. 41, does call to congratulate him.

A one-time underdog who became a major player Monday morning at Baltusrol.

He slept on a 3-foot putt and a one-shot lead, then made this 87th PGA Championship his own. He survived a weird weather and darkness delayed finish and birdied the final hole to beat Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn by one and Tiger Woods and Davis Love III by two. And win a major that, at times, you had to wonder if he could win.

It was a week where things didn’t go perfectly the whole time,’’ he said. “I’m just ecstatic that I was able to get it done.’’

That is came down the L-wedge was fitting. But it wasn’t the real reason.

Mickelson won this one on guts. He won it on a brutally hot week when the air was so thick you could drink it. A week that favored a Tiger or an Elk. He won it on a course that favored Tiger or Vijay Singh and in a season when it always seemed to be their major or month. He won it when everyone expected Tiger would make this is third.

And when everyone was wondering if he was suffering from a major letdown.

Phil Mickelson's chip onto the 18th green set up the winning birdie. (AP)

“I feel like a different player, not just because I won the majors,’’ he said. “I just feel like a different player than 10 years ago. As I look back and I see highlights of myself playing and I see my putting stroke on the green at Augusta, I just think, what was I doing?”

Phil 2005. He’s 35 and a dad three times over. And that was his youngest – two-year-old Evan -- out there doing victory laps at the 18th green and later at the press room for dear old dad.

This Phil knows when to go for it and when to throttle back. He’s got this major game plan thing going and he’s two-for-two – at the Masters and now here. And he’s got our attention – and not just for the amazing shots and weird moments that always seem to dot his rounds.

Take Thursday when he found himself playing out of the 17th fairway and over a tree to the sixth green. And fist-fiving with the fans who gathered to cheer him on. Just another manic shot for Phil. A thrill for his fans.

Mickelson doesn’t like to talk about this major thing, but you have to wonder if he’s not about to start chasing Tiger the way Tiger’s chasing Jack Nicklaus. For years we talked about what ifs. We counted the 0-fers all the way to 46 before he celebrated the end of that with a jumping jack at Augusta’s 18th hole.

Now this. Where does he go from here? Bjorn says to greatness. A 10-major kind of guy, he said. We won’t give you a number, but we will say more.

He set himself apart in more ways that just one Monday. He owns two majors, sure, but two different ones. Halfway, we might add, to a slam. And he has played exceptionally well in the U.S. Open. ...

But, no, he’s not thinking that far out. Not yet.

“It’s only been an hour or two that I’ve had two,’’ he laughed. “You know, it feels terrific and certainly that will be a long-term goal to get the other two.

“But right now, I just want to savor this victory. It was hard-fought. I think it was one of the most stressful tournaments for me because I was on the lead or at the lead or tied every night.’’

And then there was that extra night tossed in for good measure.

Not easy for anyone. Even someone in the club. Because the second major, you see, is often harder to win that the first.

And the third? We like his odds – especially if it comes down to that same shot.