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May 12
Following a 70 in the first round of his title defense in the Players Championship, Mickelson said he has been playing well lately but was getting tired of turning potential 66s into rounds in the 70s. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for him at TPC Sawgrass, although he still had a chance in the final round but posted a bloated 78 and slid down the leaderboard from a tie for fourth to a tie for 21st. That continued a stretch in which Lefty has played well in his last seven tournaments after winning the Northern Trust Open at Riviera but never truly put himself in position to win. He will take a week off but hopes to get back into contention at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, which he won in 2000. Mickelson has worked so hard on his swing with instructor Butch Harmon that his putting is not what it should be. He has switched putters a few times recently, including before the final round on the Stadium Course, where he averaged 30.3 putts per round -- taking at least 30 except when he needed only 27 on Saturday. Mickelson could have been right in the mix heading to Sunday if not for two bad swings the day before. He fanned his tee shot left into the water on No. 14 and made double bogey, then pulled his drive right into the rough on No. 18 en route to a bogey that left him at 71. |
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