SPRINGFIELD, N.J. - Playing major championships in this part of the country has always brought out the best in Phil Mickelson. Until yesterday, it was merely second best.
After being the runner-up in the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black on Long Island and again at last year's U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, Mickelson won the weather-delayed 87th PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
It was the second major victory of Mickelson's once star-crossed career, following last year's Masters, his fourth win this year and the 27th overall since he turned pro in 1992.
With a shot he had practiced for hours as a kid in the backyard of his San Diego home, Mickelson birdied the par-5 18th hole to finish at 4-under-par 276 and beat 1995 champion Steve Elkington of Australia and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark by a stroke.
The shot - a pop-up chip from heavy rough about 35 feet from the flag - rolled to within 3 feet of the cup, and Mickelson made the putt. Mickelson didn't jump in the air and pump his fists, as he did after making a long birdie putt on the 18th hole at Augusta.
The 35-year-old left-hander simply took off his cap, brushed his hair and mouthed the words, "Thank God." There were no victory laps, unless you count those his 2-year-old son Evan kept doing on the green after he and his two big sisters came out to hug their father.
Mickelson admitted later that the pressure of having to play in the lead for nearly the entire tournament, and sleep on a one-stroke lead after the final round was suspended because of bad weather Sunday night, made him feel a sense of relief more than elation.
"It was a week where things didn't go perfectly the whole week," Mickelson said. "The first couple of days, the ball was going in the hole and thereafter, it was not. I'm just ecstatic that I was able to get it done."
The pressure didn't dissipate yesterday, when Mickelson made a bogey on the 230-yard par-3 16th hole, in part because he didn't have the right club in his bag. Mickelson had left a 3-iron out of his bag on Sunday in favor of an extra wedge, and his 4-iron ballooned short, into a bunker. He missed a 16-footer to save par.
Mickelson then saw that Bjorn had birdied the par-5 17th to tie Elkington and him for the lead. Bjorn and Elkington narrowly missed birdie putts at 18. Elkington's 10-footer grazed the cup. Bjorn, after hooking his approach left of the green, saw his 20-footer rim the cup and spin out.
