HOYLAKE, England — When they were finished with their respective British Open third rounds Saturday at Royal Liverpool, both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods voiced similar laments.
Both were disappointed at the litany of wasted shots they’ve taken the last three days.
Mickelson, the defending champion, shot a 1-under-par 71 and is 1-under for the tournament, 15 shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
Woods shot a 1-over-par 73 and is 3-over for the week, 19 shots behind McIlroy.
Woods’ round was lowlighted by a lost ball in a gorse bush on the seventh hole (his 16th) that led to a triple bogey, his second triple in as many days. He continued to struggle on the first and second holes, on which he was 1-over Saturday, making him 6-over for the week. He birdied No. 1 Saturday but doubled No. 2.
“I made a lot of mistakes,’’ said Woods, a three-time British Open winner, including the last time it was played at Hoylake, where he won in 18-under par in 2006. “I’ve made two doubles and two triples [and] on top of that I missed a lot of shots for opportunities for birdies, and consequently I’m 3-over par.
“I’ve just made too many mistakes. You can’t run up high scores like that and expect to contend, especially when the conditions are this benign. Most of the scores are 3-under par or better. I certainly didn’t do that.’’
Mickelson played with Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner — two of his betting-game practice-round pals. But none of them made a move.
“We had fun, but all three of us were frustrated,’’ Mickelson said. “We had beautiful scoring conditions. First group off and if we could have shot 7-, 8-, 9-under par, it probably was out there. It was as easy as I’ve seen the course play. We could have made some noise. But … I let a lot of shots slide.
“I’m frustrated because I’ve thrown so many shots away each round. I feel like I’m playing a lot better than what I’m scoring, and that’s frustrating me.’’
Mickelson said having won the British Open before “will ease’’ the pain of not being in contention this week, but, he added, “Getting a taste of it last year, I just want it more. It makes me work harder, make me want to come here and play harder even more.’’