7.40 a.m.:Colin Montgomerie 7:50 a.m.: Kodai Ichihara, Kevin Kisner 8:00 a.m.: Marco Dawson, Charley Hoffman 8:10 a.m.: Mark O’Meara, Daniel Summerhays 8:20 a.m.: Scott Hend, Patton Kizzire 8:30 a.m.: Greg Chalmers, Yuta Ikeda 8:40 a.m.: Branden Grace, Soomin Lee 8:50 a.m.: Ryan Evans, James Hahn 9:00 a.m.:Paul Lawrie, Danny Willett 9:10 a.m.: Harris English, Zander Lombard 9:25 a.m.: Kevin Chappell, K.T. Kim 9:35 a.m.: Jamie Donaldson Adam Scott 9:45 a.m.: Richard Sterne, Harold Varner III 9:55 a.m.: Marc Leishman, Justin Thomas 10:05 a.m.: Graeme McDowell, Jon Rahm 10:15 a.m.: Jim Furyk, Jordan Spieth 10:25 a.m.: Anirban Lahiri, Bubba Watson 10:35 a.m.: Rickie Fowler, Russell Knox 10:45 a.m.: Matt Jones, Ryan Moore 10:55 a.m.: Luke Donald, Lee Westwood 11:10 a.m.: Byeong-Hun An, Jason Dufner 11:20 a.m.: Darren Clarke, Ryan Palmer 11:30 a.m.: Padraig Harrington, Alex Noren 11:40 a.m.: David Howell, Justin Rose 11:50 a.m.: Nicolas Colsaerts, Matt Kuchar 12:00 p.m.: Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matthew Southgate 12:10 p.m.: Jason Day, Andy Sullivan 12:20 p.m.: Thongchai Jaidee, Thomas Pieters 12:30 p.m.: Haydn Porteous, Brandt Snedeker 12:40 p.m.: Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari 12:55 p.m.: Emiliano Grillo, Rory McIlroy 1:05 p.m.: Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland 1:15 p.m.: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Zach Johnson 1:25 p.m.: Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na 1:35 p.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, Jim Herman 1:45 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Charl Schwartzel 1:55 p.m.: Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed 2:05 p.m.: Tony Finau, Soren Kjeldsen 2:15 p.m.: J.B. Holmes, Steve Stricker 2:25 p.m.: Bill Haas, Andrew Johnston 2:35 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson
TROON, Scotland -- Phil being Phil, he sometimes can't resist being, well ... Phil. You
can argue that Phil Mickelson would not be such a beloved figure in the
game were it not for his aggressive style and go-for-broke nature. He
once famously declared that he'd rather lose going for it than win
playing carefully.
That was a long time ago, before Mickelson won
his first major at the 2004 Masters and before he wrapped his arms, legs
and head around the idea that he had to embrace a links golf strategy
rather than fight it. For most of the last decade, that is exactly
what he's done at golf's oldest championship, learning to plot his away
around the storied old courses that host The Open, using more brains
than brawn. But for some reason on Saturday at Royal Troon, Phil
couldn't help himself. It wasn't some sort of outlandish departure from
his strategy during the first two rounds, but it was enough to cost him a
couple of shots and see him fall behind Henrik Stenson heading into the
final round. "When
I tried to play a little bit more aggressive on the downwind holds, I
started to get a little jumpy with my swing,'' Mickelson said after a
1-under-par 70 put him a stroke back of Stenson but five clear of Bill
Haas. "I started to get a little bit anxious. That's now how I play my
best. Sometimes it's better to not be aggressive.''Seemingly shocking words from Phil, but not as it relates to golf at The Open. It
was here in 2004 that it finally hit him, that Phil being Phil wasn't
going to work on these courses, where hard, bumpy ground is not
conducive to aggressive shots, that hitting mile-high moon shots often
doesn't work against swirling winds. "This was the first course
that I really played effectively links golf,'' Mickelson said. "That's
where it really kind of turned for me. This is where it kind of
happened. This is where I stopped trying to overpower the golf course,
where I kind of accepted playing it as it's designed and not trying to
find a new, better way to beat the course other than just
straightforward golf. That's probably why I love it so much.'' And
yet Mickelson for some reason reverted, at least a little bit, on
Saturday. During the opening-round 63, Mickelson hit 16 greens in
regulation. It was nearly flawless, with well-placed shots off the tee,
many with irons. Friday's 69 wasn't as strong, but the weather was
a big factor. Mickelson hit 13 greens and made a couple of bogeys but
still shot under par and held a one-shot advantage over Stenson heading
into Saturday. Much
of what Mickelson accomplished in getting to that point was due to
other factors aside from just strategy. He worked to take spin off his
shots, especially around the greens. He practiced keeping the ball lower
to avoid the wind. The great players learn to adjust their ball flight,
and after being stubborn about it, Mickelson came to terms with the
idea.The results first showed here 12 years ago when he missed
the Todd Hamilton-Ernie Els play-off by a stroke. He finished second to
Darren Clarke in 2011 at Royal St. George's. Two years later, a week
after winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, he went to Muirfield
and shot a final-round 66 to blow past the field -- including Stenson --
to hoist the Claret Jug. Among his 42 US PGA Tour victories and five
major championships, that victory is the most surprising -- and perhaps
the most special. Mickelson wasn't in the sentimental mood on
Saturday evening. It was a cold, blustery day in Troon and it wasn't
getting any warmer as he chatted with the media prior to heading to the
practice range. Things weren't quite right with his swing, and he was determined to get it fixed with his instructor, Andrew Getson. "I
was off today, I didn't have my best stuff,'' he said. "My rhythm was a
little quick from the top as we started downwind. I was a little bit
jumpy.'' Some of that might be attributed to the position he found
himself. Playing alongside Stenson, 40, a long hitter and excellent
ball-striker, can do that, too. But he didn't help himself with some of
his course management, admitting he got away from his game plan on the
front side par-5s, unable to make the birdies he coveted. "It potentially cost me a couple of shots,'' Mickelson said. "It was a day I tried to force it a little bit.''Mickelson
did a good job of staying in the game, recovering from some of his
mishaps, making just two bogeys. When he birdied the par-5 16th, he had a
one-shot lead on Stenson, but then gave it back with a poor approach
that he said was the result of "an awful swing." Stenson birdied the
hole, the difference for now. Nonetheless, a sixth major is within
his grasp, one that would tie him with Nick Faldo and Lee Trevino --
only 11 players have won more in history -- and also make him the
fourth-oldest major champion at age 46. Stenson is a formidable foe, and
showed it down the stretch Saturday, playing the last 10 holes in some
difficult conditions in even par. But Stenson, 40, has never won a
major, and there is inherent pressure in that, too. He's never held the
54-hole lead in a major, and there is that matter of becoming Sweden's
first major champion. For Mickelson, it seems more about
overcoming himself, about finding the form he had the first two days and
getting back to the mantra that carried him to victory at Muirfield
three years ago -- his last win. "I know it's not far off because I
was hitting it so well,'' he said. "I've been hitting it so good for so
long, that I just think one day is an anomaly and hopefully I'll get
dialled back in tomorrow.'' Now that's Phil being Phil.
For players on Saturday at windswept Royal Troon the no cut/no roll solution was no problem. With a forecast calling for gusts to 30 mph and sustained winds of 15
to 25 mph, R and A officials opted to not cut or roll the greens and
some pin positions and tee boxes (most notably the par-3 eighth) were
adjusted. Most players considered the decision the right thing to do
considering what happened last year when play was halted at St. Andrews
because high winds began moving golf balls on greens. “You don't want balls oscillating on greens and you don't want the same thing that happened at St. Andrews last year,” Rory McIlroy said. “I thought it was a good call. Obviously you want to get the round completed and done.”
Nor did the adjusted tees have any impact on play. “The one on [No.] 8 is pretty cool with the wind that we had to move
it up under 100 yards now adjusted, and you're trying to figure out what
club to hit and how to hit it, where to hit it, almost where to lay
up,” Jordan Spieth said. “I thought that was a great setup.” Although players agreed with the set-up changes for Saturday’s round,
it was an added challenge as relatively slow greens became even slower. “I was short on every putt the first seven or eight holes, when you change speeds like that you have to adjust,” said Phil Mickelson, who is one stroke off the lead held by Henrik Stenson.