The two best golfers in the world came to the Memorial looking for little pick-me-ups.
Phil Mickelson mounted an early charge, but a wayward drive on the 15th hole doomed his chances of a comeback victory on Sunday at the Memorial Tournament. “After that terrible drive, it kind of dashed my hopes for winning,” he said.DUBLIN, Ohio -- The two best golfers in the world came to the Memorial looking for little pick-me-ups.
Tiger Woods was coming off a neck injury. Phil Mickelson was coming off a missed cut at the Colonial. Neither really contended at Muirfield Village, at least not after Mickelson wound up hitting his third shot off a cart path on No. 15 on his way to double bogey.
But neither left central Ohio particularly upset, with the start of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach just 11 days away.
Tiger Woods never got anything going on Sunday (other than hitting spectators with wild drives), but was pleased to complete the tournament in his return from a neck injury. “It felt good to be under the gun here, to have to hit shots,” he said.Mickelson, attempting to win his first Memorial, shot a 3-under 69 Sunday to finish at 11-under, tied for fifth, seven shots behind winner Justin Rose. Woods, the defending champ, tied for 19th after an even-par 72 that left him at 6-under for the week.
"Well, I'm capable of playing four rounds in a row," Woods said.
That had been a real goal, since he had played only nine full competitive rounds coming in this year, withdrawing from his last event four weeks ago with a neck inflammation and missing the cut the previous week.
While he wasn't very happy with his tee shots, and felt he had trouble hitting high fades from the fairway and said his chipping was streaky, Woods thought he putted well. At least he didn't hurt himself, saying that pushing too hard at the Masters after five months off was what led to his neck injury in the first place.
"I have to take it step by step. It's a process. I hit shots this week I hadn't hit in a long time and got four rounds in," Woods said. "It felt good to be under the gun here, to have to hit shots."
He also hit patrons, striking two members of the gallery early in the round and one more late and apologizing with signed golf gloves each time.
"I kept getting everybody out there," Woods said. "Thank God I get [the gloves] for free."
Mickelson was more productive, with a 3-under 33 on the front nine. When he chipped in for birdie on 14, he was only four shots out of the lead and thinking about birdies on each of his final four holes to put pressure on the leaders - even thinking eagle on the par-5 15th.
That didn't last long.
"It was a crazy hole. I hit a terrible drive, obviously," Mickelson said. "After that terrible drive, it kind of dashed my hopes for winning."
After driving into the woods, Mickelson wound up having to take a penalty, and after his drops bounced away, he placed his third shot on the cart path and pulled out his 3-wood. He escaped trouble, hit his fourth shot on the green and then three-putted for a double-bogey seven.
But it still helped make him major-ready.
"What it did do was force me to just kind of play solid coming in, get a little bit of momentum heading into the U.S. Open," he said.
Neither Woods nor Mickelson will play in Memphis this week. Mickelson is heading to California for some practice rounds at Pebble Beach.
"The course won't be set up anything like the tournament," Mickelson said. "Because of that, the whole point of next week is to develop strategy, decide what club I'm going to hit off what tees with certain wind conditions and what holes I'll be attacking to certain pins and try to have all that predetermined, which is what I've done the last six years."
Woods sounds like he plans to go elsewhere, but he sort of has the whole Pebble Beach thing down. He won the U.S. Open there 10 years ago by 15 shots.
Tap-ins: John Senden had a hole-in-one at No. 8 Sunday, the 18th in the 35 years of the Memorial. ... Ricky Barnes holed a fairway shot from 108 yards for an eagle on the par-5 11th Saturday and Sunday holed out from 87 yards for an eagle on the par-5 15th. ... Rose is the first British player to win the Memorial and the second European, joining 2006 winner Carl Pettersson of Sweden. ... Former LPGA star Nancy Lopez was announced Sunday as the Memorial's honoree for 2011. Seve Ballesteros was honored this year.