Phil the Thrill Is Back At It Again

Phil the Thrill is back at it again. Phil Mickelson played the major round of his life at the Open Championship today.

With dozens of golfers still on the course he’s in the clubhouse with a three shot lead. But that’s not the story the story is he settled for a record tying 63 but it was a hair from a major championship record 62.

Mickelson’s record breaking birdie putt at eighteen was dead center in the hole from a foot out but veered to the right mere inches from the cup, caught part of the lip and took a look in the hole but settled on the edge of the cup.

You can't get any closer to 62. 💔
pic.twitter.com/eS7qnQ4LYY

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 14, 2016

History made but history missed.

Mickelson had as beautiful a game today as it was at Royal Troon. Unusually warm sunny skies, little wind and a perfect course gave Phil one of the easiest scoring days one could expect at The Open. And he took advantage.

All facets of his game were in good form as he hit 79% of the fairways (critical at Troon) 89% of the greens and used a meager 26 putts for his best round ever at the Open.

He sank a monster birdie putt at the difficult tenth hole and another long one on fourteen. But the shot that may have saved his round was from a greenside bunker at sixteen. Hard against the bunker’s wall he took a mighty swing to flop the ball high and out of trouble onto the green.

He then made the par putt and it saved his historic round.

Afterwards he told Steve Sands of the Golf Channel that “it felt like it was easy” but he lamented what might have been with his putt coming so close to making history,”…feel like crying…I don’t know how it missed.” He summed it up with “heartbreaking.”

But he’s in the house, in the lead and definitely set up for another major championship charge.

That’s not heartbreaking, not at all.

Phil the Thrill is back at it again…and man, that was fun.