The final round of the British Open at Royal St. George was set up to be a battle between two players who share the frustration of having so far unsuccessfully chased their first major titles, both having been tantalizingly close more than once. Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and the American Dustin Johnson played in the final group Sunday, set to face their nerves and the typically maddening British Open winds.
But it was another golfer, who has shared those frustrations at the British Open despite a powerhouse career elsewhere, who was trying to crash their party.
That golfer was Phil Mickelson, who started the day at even par, having quietly worked his way into contention at a tournament that usually torments him. The quiet part, however, ended quickly. He blasted his way through the wind — which was gusting to 32 miles per hour as the bleak skies promised worse to come — to three birdies in the first six holes. And when he sank a 30-foot putt for eagle on No. 7, the gallery erupted.
The eagle briefly pulled him into a tie with Clarke at five under but Clarke added an eagle of his own on No. 7. With Clarke through nine holes and Mickelson through 11, Clarke held a two-shot lead at seven under.
Having one third-place finish on his British Open résumé, Mickelson’s usual showing in this tournament involves struggling to make the cut. But he arrived this year vowing to embrace a new love for links golf. “I’m going to pretend like it’s my first time,” he said. And it has seemed to work.
Clarke, 42, came in having sniffed British Open titles at Troon and Lytham, but the most recent of those was 10 years ago. He came into the round with a one-shot lead and seemed to have his nerves betray him early. He hit a great approach shot on No. 1, only to leave his birdie putt ludicrously short. He gathered himself, though, and sank the 10-foot putt he had left himself for par. He followed with another near-perfect approach on No. 2 and this time sank the short birdie putt to push his lead to two shots at six under.
But a bogey on No. 4 dropped him back a stroke and left him open to Mickelson’s charge, until his eagle restored a bit of a cushion. Johnson, who just turned 27, had carried in his hopes of a major title on the heels of entirely-too-memorable chances to win the United States Open and the P.G.A. in 2010 — the Open providing the backdrop for an epic final-round collapse when he shot 82. His personality leans hard toward taciturn and he betrays few emotions, good or bad, but his game is long and powerful and his talent obvious.
Johnson left a birdie putt short on No. 1, but he had little more than a tap-in for par. He sent his birdie putt on No. 2 past the hole for another par before bogeys on Nos. 3 and 6 dropped him back. A birdie on No. 7 put him at three under, where he was tied with Thomas Bjorn of Denmark.
The American Rickie Fowler was even par for his round to sit at two under. The American Anthony Kim was one shot behind him. The United States Open champion Rory McIlroy finished off his tournament with a thud. Never in contention, he skidded to a final-round 73 to finish at seven over.
“It’s been a tough week for me,” McIlroy said. “I felt like I did well the first couple of rounds, and I just struggled a bit in the bad weather at the weekend.
“I’m not a fan of golf tournaments that the outcome is predicted so much by the weather. It’s not my sort of golf. Yeah, I’m disappointed with the way I finished obviously, but I’ll just have to wait until next year to try and make a good run at this tournament.”
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