RealClearSports: Mickelson, U.S. Women Are Not Losers

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SANDWICH, England — Wonder what the One Great Scorer is thinking these days? He's the one Grantland Rice poetically told us will take more notice on how we played the game than whether we won or lost.

Not a very modern concept one would conclude. Or is it?

The heroes and heroines deservedly were Darren Clarke, who took the British Open ...

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2011

Global Golf Post: In Us Vs. Them, Nobody Wins

By Art Spander
For GlobalGolfPost.com

SANDWICH, ENGLAND -- To the British, the Open Championship, that exercise in broken umbrellas and broken dreams – for verification, see Donald, Luke and Westwood, Lee – is less a golf tournament than a national treasure to be protected at all costs from Americans.

We are, as George Bernard Shaw pointed out, two nations separated by a common language. More than that, we are kept apart by different sporting philosophies.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 Global Golf Post

Newsday (N.Y.): Mickelson charges, then fizzles out

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- He called it exciting. Said it was "some of the most  fun'' he had competitively. But in the end, after a charge, after a 5-under-par  30 on the front nine Sunday put Phil Mickelson very much into the British Open, his familiar missed short putts took him out of it.

It was a day of sunshine alternating with rain and a constant blustery win, and of cheers that shook the grandstands at Royal St. George's Golf Club. Mickelson provided plenty of those cheers, coming from nowhere, five shots behind Darren Clarke at the start of the final round. His front nine run pulled him into a tie with Clarke at 5 under.

But then Clarke equaled Mickelson's eagle 3 on the 564-yard par-5 seventh hole, going to 7 under and two shots clear of Mickelson. Mickelson missed a short par putt on the 11th, eventually making four bogeys over the last eight holes, allowing Clarke to build a lead of as much as five shots.

Clarke finished at 5-under 275, three shots ahead of Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, who was Clarke's playing partner. Though it was Mickelson's best finish in 18 British  Opens -- he had only one previous top-10, a third at Royal Troon in 2004 -- there still was a feeling of what might have been.

"The putt at 11 was just a stupid mistake,'' Mickelson said of the 3-foot miss. "There was nothing to it. It was just a dumb mental error. I just lost  focus, and it hurts to throw away shots like that when I'm behind.''

Two holes later, he got a 9-iron approach up into the wind and flew the green. That bogey dropped him to 4 under. He was three behind, for all intents out of chances. He came in with a 2-under 30-38-68.

"I made some great putts today,'' Mickelson said, referring specifically to the 50-footer for the eagle, "and then later, I ended up missing them . . . When I saw Darren wasn't going to make a mistake, I had to try to make birdies, and that's when I ended up making a couple of bogeys.''

Mickelson said he was happy for Clarke, whose wife, Heather, died of breast cancer in 2006 and  who called Phil when  Mickelson's wife, Amy, was stricken with the disease in 2009.

"He's a tremendous person and a good friend,'' Mickelson said. "It was fun to try and make a run at him.''

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Newsday (N.Y.): Clarke holds off Phil, Dustin for victory

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- He stepped out of the rain and the pressure to a place  no one except Darren Clarke ever believed he would be, the final green at the British Open -- his nation's championship, as it were -- with a lead impossible to squander.

That he made bogey on the final two holes Sunday was irrelevant. Clarke's journey, the longest ever to an Open victory, was a success, and as he said later, "I certainly had a few thoughts going through my head.''

Clarke, 42, won on his 20th attempt to hoist the Claret Jug; no player had won the Open after more than 15 empty tries. He had given the remarkable little nation of Northern Ireland (population about 1.8 million) its third major champion in 13 months.

Graeme McDowell won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Rory McIlroy the recent U.S. Open at Congressional and now with a final-round even-par 70 and a 72-hole total of 5-under-par 275 at Royal St. George's, Clarke, in the words of R&A chief Peter Dawson, had  become, "Champion golfer of the year.''

He finished three shots ahead of Americans Phil Mickelson, who  provided front-nine drama and had his best-ever British Open, and Dustin Johnson. Another shot behind at 279 was Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, who had shared the first-round lead. They were the only  golfers under par.

Chad Campbell, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler, three more  Americans, were at 280 in this 140th Open, giving the maligned United States five of the top seven.

With Davis Love tied for ninth and Steve Stricker and Lucas Glover tied for 12th, there were eight Americans in the top 14.

Still, it was the sixth straight major without an American winner.

Clarke had not contended in the Open since 2001. He had been put in the shade, as the Brits say, by McDowell, who missed the cut, and the 22-year-old McIlroy, who shot 7-over  287. "But I always believed I would get back,'' Clarke said.

What amounted to a home crowd cheered Clarke all the way, finishing with a mammoth standing ovation as he paraded the 18th fairway.

"It's been a dream since I've been a kid to win the Open,'' Clarke said, "like any kid's dream is, and I'm able to do it, which just feels incredible . . . The crowd were sensational for me all week. It's been a while since I felt that amount of support.''

Clarke, who likes to hoist a few -- "I may not be sober for the Irish Open,  but I will be in Killarney'' -- has been a popular and sympathetic figure. His wife, Heather, died just before the 2006 Ryder Cup. He chose to play, won three matches and was called an inspiration to the overwhelming European win.

Johnson, who started the day a shot behind Clarke, was 1 over on the front and fell to four behind after nine. Mickelson moved into  second with a brilliant 5-under 30 on those holes. But going into 14, Clarke was  7 under, Johnson 5 under and Mickelson 4 under.

Reminiscent of his failures last year in the U.S. Open and PGA, Johnson hit his second shot on  the par-5 14th out of bounds.

Clarke received text messages before the final round from Tiger Woods, whom he counts  as a close friend, and McIlroy, who gained inspiration from Clarke growing up in  Northern Ireland.

McIlroy and McDowell had achieved their dreams. Now Darren Clarke, their mentor, realized his.

At the victory ceremony on the 18th green, Clarke pointed skyward and in remembrance of his wife, said someone was watching over him.

"In terms of what's going through my heart, there's obviously somebody who is watching down from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me," Clarke said later. "She's probably be saying, 'I told you so.' "

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Copyright © 2011 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): Mickelson eager for links at British Open

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANDWICH, England -- It hasn't been his tournament, except once, in 17 years. Phil Mickelson and the British Open have become virtual enemies. Something happens when he comes across the Atlantic, and more significantly comes upon a linksland course.

In 2004, the year he won the Masters, the year he made such a gallant run at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, Mickelson led the British Open on the back nine the final day. That was at Royal Troon, on the west coast of Scotland. He missed by a shot of making the playoff in which Todd Hamilton beat Ernie Els.

"I love this tournament," was Mickelson's comment. "I just haven't played well in the past." He said that at Troon seven years ago. For all intents he said it again this week, slightly modified.

"I'm not trying to fix any past poor play," was his explanation heading into Thursday's first round of the 2011 Open at Royal St. George's, "I'm trying to come here and play the way links golf should be played . . . I actually really enjoy it."

Even if he doesn't enjoy his record, the lone top-10 finish. The last time the Open was held at Royal St. George's, along the English Channel on the southeast tip of England, in 2003, Mickelson tied for 59th.

At age 41, Mickelson is attempting to persuade himself the Open is new.

"I'm trying to pretend it's my first time here," he said, "and appreciate playing the ball on the ground on days when the wind blows and appreciate being able to play some through the air when the wind is a little bit calmer."

To those in the New York Metropolitan area, where Mickelson has been successful, winning the PGA at Baltusrol in 2005, leading the U.S. Open at Winged Foot for 71 holes in 2006, coming down to the wire at Shinnecock and at Bethpage Black in 2002 and 2009, it may be difficult to imagine he can't play well on any course.

But links golf, on rolling fairways full of bunkers and blind shots, bewilders Mickelson. The skills he exhibits with a wedge or with a putter, are negated. It's difficult to spin a shot on a green as hard as cement when the wind is gusting 30 mph.

"I enjoy being rewarded for a precise shot," said Mickelson, "and having the ball end up close to the hole if you hit it really well. But I'm coming to enjoy the challenge links golf provides."

To that end he played in the Scottish Open last week at Castle Stuart, a new links course near Inverness. He never made it to the leaderboard, but he did make the cut.

Because of quirky bounces of links golf, luck often is involved, but as Jack Nicklaus pointed out, the player with the most good breaks usually is the one who hits the most good shots.

For Mickelson's practice round Tuesday, the wind was howling. Upwind, he couldn't reach the 243-yard, par-3 11th with a full driver, but downwind he could rip a ball 380 yards off the tee on the 426-yard, par-4 17th.

"I don't think the scores will be ridiculously low here," Mickelson said. "I think making No. 4 [at 495 yards] a par 4 [from a 5] immediately knocks four shots off the score relative to par. So we're going to have a tough time breaking par over four rounds."

For someone wanting to think positively, Phil Mickelson seems all too negative.

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