World No. 2 Phil Mickelson clinched the HSBC Champions title
yesterday in his first appearance in Shanghai after a tense
three-way, two-round playoff against Englishmen Ross Fisher and Lee
Woodward.
The lefthander held his nerve on the extra hole, the tricky
par-5 18th where he had earlier dropped in the water, to sink a
four-foot birdie putt, earning his 36th professional victory.
"It feels amazing," Mickelson said after pocketing US$833,000
for the victory. "I don't know how it happened. The whole day was a
whirlwind, but what a fun day."
There was plenty of opportunity for Fisher to wrest victory from
the American, who had won three times on the PGA Tour this year.
Going into the 18th with a one-stroke lead over his rival, his
ambitious attempt to reach the 538-yard hole in two saw him land in
deep rough, and his recovering chip bounced off the green and into
the water.
He eventually finished the hole on a double-bogey to card a
two-over 74 for the round and 10-under for the tournament.
During the conservative initial playoff hole, the Englishman
atoned for his earlier error when he was presented with an
eight-foot birdie putt for the tournament win, but fell to his
knees when his shot just would not roll in.
"You know, I can take a lot from this, I've pushed the world No.
2 all the way," Fisher said.
Pre-tournament favorite Mickelson, coming into the final round
with a two-stroke lead over the Dutch Open champion after carding a
four-under 68, had to work hard for his victory. The US President's
Cup captain started brightly and was leading by three after 11
holes. However, he dropped four shots on 12, 13 and 15 and Fisher
was now up by two.
A birdie on the 16 got "Lefty" back into contention, and despite
hitting his second shot on the 18th into the water, nearly clinched
victory with a 10-foot putt for par.
The pair's misfortune was a boon for Westwood, who had started
the day nine shots off the pace. Six birdies on the back nine,
however, put the Englishman back in contention and he had to be
summoned from the clubhouse for the playoff.
The sunny and bright day, with only a light breeze, began in
shock with news that defending champion Yang Yong-eun had been
disqualified. The South Korean was spotted by a fan following his
round on Saturday to have made two mistakes on his scorecard.
Yang, who beat world No. 1 Tiger Woods for last year's win, was
called for signing a four at the 12th when he had in fact shot
five, while he signed for three instead of two at the 17th.
Although his finishing score of 2-under 70 was still correct, he
was disqualified for registering a figure lower than his actual
score on the 12th. Signing for a higher score is not
punishable.
(Shanghai Daily November 12, 2007)
