Muirfield privileged to see maestro at audacious peak

AS he sat in the media room and reflected on his masterpiece, Phil Mickelson clung to the narrow stem of the Claret Jug.

Mickelson holds Claret Jug close

AS he sat in the media room and reflected on his masterpiece, Phil Mickelson clung to the narrow stem of the Claret Jug.

He held on to it as he spoke about the greatest round of his life. He clasped it tight as he talked about the most fulfilling day of his brilliant career.

Of all golf's major prizes, this was the one that Mickelson feared might evade him for ever. Now that he had the old trophy, he was not going to loosen his grip.

We have come to regard the US Open as Mickelson's elusive holy grail. He has been runner-up six times, agonisingly short again just weeks ago at Merion.

But it is the Open he has coveted above all. That much became clear when he clasped Jim "Bones" Mackay on the 18th green at Muirfield and, through tears of triumph, whispered "I did it" into his caddie's ear. "I did it."

Mickelson hoped he could win the Open Championship one day. He believed he might. But he has suffered so often over the links, punished for overambition and waywardness, that he wondered if it would ever happen. "I feel like I'm getting closer," he once said. That was in 2003.

Finally, at Muirfield, on one of the toughest courses of all, one of the game's greats summoned his finest round, and they knew it all along the stands that lined the 18th at Muirfield.

Their ovation was not tinged with disappointment that a Brit had fallen short. It was not diluted by sympathy for Lee Westwood. The mood was one of privilege that we were watching a maestro at his audacious peak.

Mickelson has always brought a thrill to the golf course. This Californian does not grind out his victories. He began his week flopping a wedge shot backwards over his head in practice. He finished it with a back nine of 32, a closing round of 66, which ranks among the most brilliantly spectacular to win the Open in its 142 years.

Mickelson alighted on the putt on the 13th as the shot that "would make his day go one way or the other". But it was when he was asked to talk about the 17th that his eyes blazed with excitement.

He talked of his two swings of a three-wood, shots that flew like bullets, carrying his ball all 575 yards to the heart of the green. "Not since I got my first 60-degree L-wedge when I was 14 has a club changed my game like this three-wood," Mickelson said. "They were two of the best three-woods I ever hit."

He strode on to the 18th hoping for a safe par. But Mickelson could not restrain his brilliance. It was classic Mickelson, a six-iron approach that seemed to be careering towards disaster before it bounced away from the greenside bunker and rolled to 15 feet above the hole. He stroked in the putt and raised both arms over his head. "I did it," he said, even though it would be another hour before his triumph was official.

Mickelson cried. His wife Amy cried. "Bones" cried as he talked about the best round he had seen from his boss in their 21 years together. Perhaps some in the crowd cried, too.

It is not just that Mickelson plays such daring golf, but seems so likeable. As he waited for his vanquished rivals to finish, Mickelson did not hide away but signed countless autographs for fans (right-handed - he is only "Lefty" when it comes to golf).

He goofed about with American journalists. Afterwards, when he was asked if there was any hint of Scottishness in his name, he summoned an hilariously bad accent: "Ah don't knoooo. Maybe a weeee bit." Everyone laughed, but not from sycophancy.

At 43, who knows how much more is to come? "Bones" said afterwards that Mickelson is hungrier than ever. "What other golfer over 40 would have a new practice facility built in their back yard?" the caddie said. "I tell you, he will be on the tee at Augusta still thinking he's got a chance when he's 60."

Mickelson is just a US Open victory away from becoming only the sixth man to win all four majors. He can join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen on their plinth.

"That's a sign of the complete great player," Mickelson said. "I'm a leg away. The US Open has been elusive but this one has been a much harder one to get. I didn't know if I would ever win this tournament. I always hoped and believed, but I didn't know." Now he does. Yesterday (Sunday), clutching that Claret Jug, he could say: "I did it."

The Times