Mickelson wins at Shell, moves to Augusta
HUMBLE, Texas – In a classic battle of power versus finesse in Sunday’s final pairing, Phil Mickelson won the Shell Houston Open for the 39th win of his career and a boatload of confidence heading into the defense of his title at next week’s Masters. Mickelson provided the power and finished at 20-under par 268, three better than his finesse playing partner, Scott Verplank and tour rookie Chris Kirk. Mickelson’s closing 65 to Kirk’s 67 and Verplank’s 68 provided the cushion for the win. Now, he gets to move onto Augusta to see just how ready he is to defend.“It felt really good for me to have played so well and to gain some momentum heading into next week,” Mickelson said. “It feels a lot like ’06 in that I needed to have a week where I kind of put it together. By that I mean, I’ve been saying all year I’m playing well, but I’m not getting the score out of it, and I’m having just kind of a lapse of focus.”
Mickelson had been unhappy with his inability to stay focused throughout rounds this season when he played well, but couldn’t stay focused for a complete round. That changed on Sunday, perhaps at the most perfect time 0 heading into the Masters.
An example of his loss of concentration came at the par-5 eighth. After being just short of the green in two, he flubbed a chip that came up short of the green and rolled into the front bunker. He got up and down for par, but was upset with the poor effort. He birdied the next five holes.
“I was so upset at myself for losing concentration over that shot that I really was able to maintain my focus the next few holes,” he said of his run. “And then I was so upset at the way I let my mind wander on 15 when I had a great eagle opportunity and then missed the comeback for birdie that I’m really proud of the way I focused in on 16 and hit the best – one of the best 9-irons, best shots I’ve hit all week to within a couple of feet to make birdie.
“So, I was able to battle back when I did have a couple of those lapses, but I know going into Augusta, and the penalties being so severe there, that I’ve got to be able to work on that,” he added.
For Verplank, being able to play golf at the highest level was a welcome relief. He has struggled most of the last six months with a bad left wrist and elbow. No one wants to perform corrective surgery on the wrist, the biggest culprit to his woes, because it hasn’t been done with someone that needed that wrist for work. Verplank isn’t so much suffering from pain as he is from degenerative bone in an area that is vital to his game because it affects his ability to grip a club. On Sunday, he lost a bit of feel down the stretch, but true to his persona, he wasn’t going to complain.
“Well, I'm disappointed that I didn't give it a little bit better shot the last four, five holes,” Verplank said. Honestly, I was hoping to get to play and hoping to build off getting to play last week.
“I actually played pretty well last week,” Verplank continued. “I finished thirty-something because I had so many mess-ups. But I was encouraged. The three tournaments I've been to play this year, I've been very even encouraged with my game. It's just the fact that I haven't been able to play very often.
“I guess, you know, other than if you don't win, second I guess is the next best deal,” he added. “It's nice that I hadn't forgotten how to play. I didn't have a whole lot of confidence. If you're hurt, you don't have a whole ton of confidence in your body, it's hard to have confidence in anything.”
He felt as though he was probably about 80 percent and in the end, his inability to get the best grip on his clubs and putter cost him. Bogeys at Nos. 14 and 16 left him three back and little chance with the way Mickelson was playing.
Even while Verplank was carding four birdies in a six-hole stretch, Mickelson reeled off five straight birdies to pull even.
“For 13 holes I hung in there pretty tough, you know, and Phil obviously played great,” Verplank said. “I mean, I was I birdieing every other hole, and I couldn't pull away from the guy. He was birdieing every hole. It was good. We had a good time playing together. I enjoyed playing with him. I'm happy the see him win since I didn't.”
Kirk earned his second top-10 of the year and all but locked up his playing rights for next year. That was something that made him happy when the week was over.
“Kind of sets me up for the rest of the year,” said Kirk. “I was already in pretty good shape, but this just makes it a little better.”
While Kirk and Verplank had plenty of reason to feel a little better about themselves and their games, Mickelson seemed to immediately shift focus to the work ahead – going for a fourth green jacket.
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