Mickelson wins Players Champs

PONTE VEDRA – Phil Mickelson engineered a almost flawless final round to claim a two-shot win at the nine-million-dollar Players Championship on Sunday.

In just his third tournament since sacking longtime instructor Rick Smith to work with Butch Harmon, Mickelson hardly hit a bad shot in a three-under-par 69 in perfect conditions at the Sawgrass TPC. “As I look back on my career after I stop playing, I think I’ll look back on this tournament victory in the same light as the majors,” Mickelson said.Mickelson finished at 11-under 277 and collected 1.62 million dollars for his first victory at this event and his 31st on the PGA Tour.”What this tells me is I’m on the right path,” Mickelson said.”I’ve seen progression.It wasn’t hit or miss.It’s steadily gotten better the more time I’ve put into it.”Sergio Garcia closed with a 66 to finish alone in second place at nine-under 279.Steward Cink (66) and Jose Maria Olazabal (67) tied for third at 280.Third-round leader Sean O’Hair was Mickelson’s only threat, but O’Hair’s hopes drowned at the famous par-three 17th, where he put two balls into the water surrounding the island green and ended up with a quadruple-bogey.”I missed a putt on 16 and I was not playing for second, so I had to get aggressive,” O’Hair said.”I don’t know where it landed or by how much it flew by.The adrenaline was pumping and I hit it too good, to be honest.”Mickelson had taken the lead for good at the 10th hole.A meaningless bogey at the final hole was the only blemish on his card as he improved to second in the world rankings behind Tiger Woods.O’Hair, who entered the day with a one-shot lead over Mickelson, was two shots back heading to No.17.”I was in a good spot to win and unfortunately I got kicked in the teeth,” O’Hair said.”I had an opportunity and it didn’t happen.I’m not going to let this bother me.”O’Hair bogeyed the 18th to shoot 76 and fall all the way to 11th at 5-under 283.Mickelson was in fine form early, splitting the fairway with three of his first four drives.He birdied the first two holes and added birdies at the par-4 seventh and par-5 11th to put a little distance between himself and O’Hair.Garcia was delighted with his finish, which included four successive birdies from the 14th.”I got really hot,” he said after hitting all but one green in regulation.”I barely missed a fairway, barely missed a green the last two days.I’m very pleased with that.I felt comfortable all week with my swing.”However, Garcia could only rue the double bogey he made to end the third round, wondering what might have been if not for that.Meanwhile, Woods finally produced the sort of form that had eluded him all week, shooting a five-under 67.It was too late to have any real meaning, but to listen to Woods, his long game was in pretty good shape all week.He could not say the same about his putting.”I knew I could shoot a round in the 60s if I’d just make a few putts, and today I did,” Woods said after finishing tied for 37th, 11 strokes off the pace.Luke Donald, the only British player within striking distance at the start of the day, never got his charge off the launch pad, shooting 74 to finish tied for 16th at 3-under 285.Ian Poulter (69) was two shots further back, with Irishman Padraig Harrington (70) tied for 52nd on two-over 290.Nampa-AFP”As I look back on my career after I stop playing, I think I’ll look back on this tournament victory in the same light as the majors,” Mickelson said.Mickelson finished at 11-under 277 and collected 1.62 million dollars for his first victory at this event and his 31st on the PGA Tour.”What this tells me is I’m on the right path,” Mickelson said.”I’ve seen progression.It wasn’t hit or miss.It’s steadily gotten better the more time I’ve put into it.”Sergio Garcia closed with a 66 to finish alone in second place at nine-under 279.Steward Cink (66) and Jose Maria Olazabal (67) tied for third at 280.Third-round leader Sean O’Hair was Mickelson’s only threat, but O’Hair’s hopes drowned at the famous par-three 17th, where he put two balls into the water surrounding the island green and ended up with a quadruple-bogey.”I missed a putt on 16 and I was not playing for second, so I had to get aggressive,” O’Hair said.”I don’t know where it landed or by how much it flew by.The adrenaline was pumping and I hit it too good, to be honest.”Mickelson had taken the lead for good at the 10th hole.A meaningless bogey at the final hole was the only blemish on his card as he improved to second in the world rankings behind Tiger Woods.O’Hair, who entered the day with a one-shot lead over Mickelson, was two shots back heading to No.17.”I was in a good spot to win and unfortunately I got kicked in the teeth,” O’Hair said.”I had an opportunity and it didn’t happen.I’m not going to let this bother me.”O’Hair bogeyed the 18th to shoot 76 and fall all the way to 11th at 5-under 283.Mickelson was in fine form early, splitting the fairway with three of his first four drives.He birdied the first two holes and added birdies at the par-4 seventh and par-5 11th to put a little distance between himself and O’Hair.Garcia was delighted with his finish, which included four successive birdies from the 14th.”I got really hot,” he said after hitting all but one green in regulation.”I barely missed a fairway, barely missed a green the last two days.I’m very pleased with that.I felt comfortable all week with my swing.”However, Garcia could only rue the double bogey he made to end the third round, wondering what might have been if not for that.Meanwhile, Woods finally produced the sort of form that had eluded him all week, shooting a five-under 67.It was too late to have any real meaning, but to listen to Woods, his long game was in pretty good shape all week.He could not say the same about his putting.”I knew I could shoot a round in the 60s if I’d just make a few putts, and today I did,” Woods said after finishing tied for 37th, 11 strokes off the pace.Luke Donald, the only British player within striking distance at the start of the day, never got his charge off the launch pad, shooting 74 to finish tied for 16th at 3-under 285.Ian Poulter (69) was two shots further back, with Irishman Padraig Harrington (70) tied for 52nd on two-over 290.Nampa-AFP