Mickelson says he's on the verge

    Sunday, September 9, 2012
    Writing from Carmel, Indiana

    Phil Mickelson was right there. The co-leader entering the final round. The leader after a brilliant chip from the collar at the par-4 second. The man who made a little girl’s day by giving her a $99 tip for a $1 glass of lemonade on the ride into Crooked Stick Golf Club on Sunday morning.
    How could he not win?
    By only scoring 2-under-par 70 when Rory McIlroy was zooming past him and the rest of the field with a 5-under 67, that’s how.
    Mickelson didn’t play poorly on Sunday. He just didn’t click when he had to. And he knew it.
    “My timing was just a fraction off,” Mickelson said after finishing at 18-under 270. “I wasn’t quite getting the ball on line with my irons, and my putter was a little bit off, whether the speed or the read.”
    He had some wayward shots – a drive on the par-4 seventh went down the hill and forced a bogey from a bad lie – and in the end, those cost him victory. Both he and McIlroy had 108 putts, and Mickelson never three-putted. McIlroy did so twice.
    So is Mickelson downcast about his play? Not the man who sees even a broken glass as half-full. And he is fourth in the playoff point standings, which means if he wins the Tour Championship at East Lake, he wins the FedEx Cup and the $10 million pot o’gold at rainbow’s end.
    “I had a fourth (in Boston) last week, tied for second this week,” Mickelson said. “I feel really good about where my game is headed.”
    Mickelson has won twice at East Lake, which is another plus.
    “I look at a day like this as just a blip as opposed to a trend,” Mickelson said. “The trend is going up.”

    As the FedEx Cup turned

    Robert Garrigus and Ryan Moore played themselves into the top 30 in the seasons standings and thus punched a ticket for East Lake with finishes of T-4 and T-10, respectively, in the Western. But the numbers fluctuated like a light bulb powered by hamsters most of the day.
    It took until late in the round that Scott Piercy was a lock for 30th place, knocking out Kyle Stanley. And Vijay Singh, who started the week 49th, went until the final holes before his fate of just missing out – he finished 33rd in the season-long race – was sealed.
    Garrigus and Moore was thrilled, but the other half of the story is those who were in and now are out.
    Bill Haas gave it a go, but failed to advance to East Lake, where he won it all last year. four bogeys in the last five holes, including the last three, dropped him from 28th to 32nd.
    “When nerves are an issue and I’m under the gun, I’ve got to be better,” Haas said. “Right now I’m far from competitive.”
    Haas didn’t know it, but if he made a 59-footer for par on the 18th hole, he would have finished 30th.
    “I didn’t think I was even close,” Haas said. “That’s even more frustrating. That said, I hit a nice putt. I’m not mad at the putt, I just didn’t deserve it.”
    Stanley helped decide his fate at the par-3 sixth, where he double-bogeyed. He also bogeyed the 18th.
    “I don’t really know what I feel right now,” Stanley said. “I’ve felt pretty stale for quite some time here.”
    Rickie Fowler advanced to the Tour Championship for the first time, while John Huh was the only player from this year’s crop of rookies to advance.

    Roar of the crowd

    Officials of the Western Golf Association didn’t crow about attendance this week, but should have. A gallery of at least 35,000 was on hand Sunday, as it was Saturday, to go with crowds of around 30,000 on Thursday and Friday.
    The WGA had privately estimated 111,000 for the first six days at Crooked Stick, and that included the rained-out pro-am on Monday, when the Deutsche Bank Classic was wrapping up in Boston. An NBC Sports source familiar with the numbers said the WGA counted only 49,000 for the seven days of the 2011 tournament at Cog Hill.
    “The corporate support has been great in Chicago, great for a long time, but we’ve had a lot more people show up here than we’ve had in recent years in Chicago,” WGA tournament VP Vince Pellegrino told the Associated Press. “The locals into golf here said this would be big, but till you see it in person, you're not really sure.”
    Now he’s sure, and inclined to come back to Crooked Stick, a big supporter of the WGA’s Evans Scholars Foundation, sooner rather than later. A club source said they’d want the BMW back, but not right away. The club has hosted a large run of tournaments in recent years, including the 2009 U.S. Senior Open and 2005 Solheim Cup, and wants a break of a few years.
    The WGA is taking the old Western Open out of Chicago in even-numbered years now. The 2014 playing is set for Cherry Hills Country Club, near Denver. The 2016 edition will probably go to Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, as part of the PGA Tour’s deal to play a playoff tournament there. That would make 2018 the next non-Chicago open date.
    Next year’s tournament will be at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, which will probably host the 2015 edition as well. This week, Conway Farms is hosting the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

    Around Crooked Stick

    Pete Dye, the man who made Crooked Stick, both club and course, was at the 18th green to shake winner Rory McIlroy’s hand when he finished play. Dye watched most of the tournament from his modest house adjacent to the 18th fairway, because each time he ventured onto the grounds, he was mobbed by fans seeking his autograph. ... Hunter Mahan finished dead last, carding a 77 for an even 300 this week. He still made $16,000. ... Arnold Palmer, a two-time Western Open winner, turns 83 tomorrow.
    – Tim Cronin