The 34-year-old had about 210 yards to carry the water and another 15 feet to the pin. He pulled out a 5-wood, the club with which he made a hole-in-one on Saturday.
Having seen all this unfold, Mickelson hit a solid 6-iron to about 25 feet above the hole. When Toms reached the green in three, Mickelson knew he needed to make that slick downhill putt just to have a chance at winning that elusive first major. Uncharacteristically, he left the putt about 5 inches short.
Toms then drained the 12 footer for his first major.
This will surely be the longest winter of Mickelson's career. He was third at the Masters and tied for seventh at the U.S. Open, and had legitimate chances to win both. At the PGA, three straight rounds of 66 and a 68 on Sunday weren't good enough to beat Toms, whose aggregate score of 265 is the lowest in major championship history. It's hard to criticize someone who shot 14-under to finish second, but Mickelson, fair or not, remains the best golfer without a major victory.
This was a rather bizarre year for major championships. We saw Tiger capture his fourth straight major at the Masters and then fail to make top-10 in the next three. Retief Goosen put himself into the dull 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open by three-putting on the last green before eventually winning it, while David Duval finally removed the tag of being one of the best players not to have won a major at the Open Championship. The likes of Chris DiMarco, Angel Cabrera, Niclas Fasth and Shingo Katayama made names for themselves with surprising performances at this year's majors.
On top of all this, Toms and Mickelson provided enough drama to make the PGA Championship the most exciting major of the year. Say what you will about the ridiculously low scores and hot weather. PGA Championship is still one of the four most important tournaments on the PGA Tour. Simple as that.
Go To Page: 1 2
