SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – There is no definitive script for the mourning process, but conventional wisdom shows that it usually progresses like this: Loss – any type of loss – hurts most in the immediate aftermath, the pain at its most intense before growing duller with time. McIlroy has recorded four Top-10 finishes since then but missed the cut at this year’s US Open, and finished 17th at last year’s PGA Championship after sitting out the Open Championship due to injury.
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The Venezuelan was on fire in the final round, carding an eight under 64 to move into the lead and take the title, edging the likes of Dustin Johnson by one stroke. I feel like I can play my game in US PGA Championships.
His answer is to defer until later. Defending’s great, but I won it a year ago.
If ever there was a time for a short memory, this would be it for Mickelson.
Australian star Day, who won his first major crown previous year at Whistling Straits and has seven titles in the past 12 months, will tee off at 8:30am (12:30 GMT) on Thursday at the 10th hole and 1:45pm on Friday off the first tee with fourth-ranked McIlroy, the 2014 PGA victor at Valhalla, and 13th-ranked Mickelson, who captured the title in 2005, the last time the PGA was played at Baltusrol. I love this place.
He then shifted into a mode that perhaps only he possesses.
“It is a big golf course, so you always think it will suit the big hitters”.
Even with two victories and a chance at the Masters that he threw away with one bad swing at the wrong time, he has been noticeable in the last two majors by his absence from the leaderboard. So have I met them this year?
Spain’s Garcia first threatened to break through when he chased after victor Tiger Woods at the 1999 PGA at Medinah. To put his longevity in context, none of those others are here this week, while Mickelson remains amongst the pre-tournament favorites. The other was Old Tom Morris, who won all four of his British Opens in his 40s back in the 1860s.
“Golf is a game where you smack it, go up to the next one and smack it again and you count it up at the end”. His duel with Stenson will endure as one of the game’s most classic head-to-head battles on a Sunday afternoon.
The heat was the biggest concern to start the day, but that changed when the skies opened up.
“I had said after the U.S. Open it felt like now the second half is starting”, Spieth said. Day hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy (pictured above) after beating out Jordan Spieth who he played alongside in the final pairing and the rest of the field while scorching the course with a record score of -20.
Mickelson admitted as much, too, though he struggled to elaborate whether playing his best and still losing was easier or tougher to handle.
For now, he’s got another task at hand. I had some really good practice sessions with my coach, Michael Bannon, last week. “There’s a lot of golf left, last major of the year”. “Because you don’t want that tag of “best player without a major” and I had that tag for awhile”. Back in the day, back-to-back Majors were nearly par for the course.
“I’m hitting the ball further this year, which is really nice”.
“I think it’s settled down a bit now and we are trying to get back down to work and knuckle down because we have got a very important second half of the season coming up”. That obviously gives me a lot of confidence when I’m out there playing.
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Mickelson shot 65 and lost. With a mischievous smile splashed across his face, he explained that he’d like to have just one mulligan. I saw Gary Woodland on the putting green just as he was going out, and I said, ‘That’s one of the guys I’m anxious about.’ I thought he could maybe get it out there by me.
