MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- Phil Mickelson's bid for a third consecutive major ended in stunning fashion Sunday when he double-bogeyed on the final hole, allowing Australian Geoff Ogilvy to capture the 106th U.S. Open.
"I still am in shock that I did that. I just can't believe that I did that," Mickelson said. "I'm such an idiot."
The winning stroke in the toughest U.S. Open in 32 years was a 6-foot par putt that Ogilvy made on the 18th hole, which appeared to be good enough for second place.
He became the first Australian to win the U.S. Open since David Graham in 1981.
The celebration didn't take place on the 18th green, but in the clubhouse, after Ogilvy signed for a 2-over 72 and then watched an incredible sequence unfold, just as stunned as everyone else.
"I think I was the beneficiary of a little bit of charity," Ogilvy said.
The 29-year-old Aussie didn't stand around waiting for handouts, though. Resilient as ever, he battled to the very end.
Ogilvy chipped in from mangled rough on the 17th hole to save par, then overcame a miserable break on the 18th when his tee shot came to rest in a divot. The approach lost power as it reached the green, tumbling down the false front, and he did well to pitch up the hill to about 6 feet behind the cup.
He made the putt, unlike
"It's pretty hard to believe," Ogilvy said, a comment that went a long way at this U.S. Open. "Obviously, you dream about winning a major championship. To have it actually happen, once it sinks in, it's pretty special."
Mickelson had a two-shot lead with four holes to play, but his miscues caught up with him. Mickelson hit only two fairways in the final round, none on the back nine.
"This one is going to take a while to get over," Mickelson said. "This one is pretty disappointing."
And while he found a way to escape most times, Winged Foot got its vengeance at the end.
His tee shot on the 18th went far left and clattered through the trees by a corporate hospitality tent, into the trampled rough. Instead of playing out to the fairway and trying to get par, he went after the green and hit a tree, the ball advancing only 25 yards.
"If I would make par, I'd win the tournament," Mickelson said. "I just thought, 'I can slice this.' I thought I'd just put the 3-iron on the green -- or if not on it, around it -- and get up and down."
The third shot sailed left of the green and buried in the bunker, plugged so badly that Mickelson had no chance to get close to the flag because the green ran away from him. He blasted out and through the green, into more rough, then chipped back 8 feet past the hole before making the last putt to close with double bogey.
"I had it right there in my hands, and I let it go," Mickelson said. "I just can't believe I did that."
Lost in the final-round flurry was what proved to be the most demanding U.S. Open in more than 25 years.
Ogilvy finished at 5-over 285, the first time a U.S. Open champion finished over par since Andy North at Cherry Hills in 1978. And it was the highest score by a winner since Hale Irwin won at 7-over 285 at Winged Foot in the '74 U.S. Open.
He also joined Irwin in another footnote that spoke to wicked Winged Foot -- neither failed to break par in any of the four rounds.
Montgomerie had his best chance in 11 years to win that elusive major. He holed a 75-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole for a share of the lead and was in the middle of the 18th fairway, 172 yards from the hole, in prime position to do no worse than a playoff. But he missed well to the right, down a steep slope into rough that covered the cuffs of his pants.
The best he could do was chip some 40 feet by the pin. Then he did the worst thing he could do, running his par putt 10 feet by and missing the next one for a double bogey and a 71.
"I look forward to coming back next year and try another U.S. Open disaster," Montgomerie said.
Furyk also will have a restless night.
One of five players tied for the lead on a steamy afternoon, he was 5 over and in the bunker on the 18th when he played a splendid shot to about 5 feet below the hole. He backed off twice, and the par putt caught the right edge of the cup, giving him a 70, one shot out of a playoff.
"I played my heart out, and it didn't work," Furyk said.
Padraig Harrington played bogey-free for 15 holes for a share
of the lead, then bogeyed the last three for a 71 to finish fifth, two
shots behind.
"I feel for Phil," Ogilvy said. "He's won a few majors recently, so I can take one away."
He never imagined it would happen like this. No one did. Mickelson had been so dominant in the majors, and had poured so much into studying every nook and cranny at Winged Foot, that it appeared he would win this the way Woods often captures majors -- making the fewest mistakes in the final round.
"I came out here a week or two ago in the evenings, just spending the evenings on the last four holes, thinking I'd just have to make four pars, thinking there was a good chance if I could make four pars on Sunday, I could do it," he said.
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| Geoff Ogilvy became the second Australian player to win the U.S. Open. (Greenwood/ WireImage) |
He became the first Aussie to win a major since Steve Elkington in the 1995 PGA Championship, and Ogilvy showed he can never be counted out. When he won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa, he set a record by winning four consecutive matches in extra holes.
This was about survival from the start, even if the New Yorkers were so raucous they thought Lefty only needed to show up.
But he still had to hit the shots, and Mickelson didn't hit a fairway until the eighth hole. The most damaging miss came on the par-5 fifth hole, easily reachable in two. Mickelson hit into the face of a bunker, hit into the rough, than tried to dig it out with a 4-wood and moved it about a yard. He did well to make bogey.
By then, the U.S. Open was, indeed, wide open.
As the tournament headed into the final two hours, four players were tied top the leaderboard. It wasn't a matter of who would shift into drive, but who could get out of reverse.
Mickelson did both, but then stepped on the gas and drove over the edge.
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