Mark Cannizzaro

Mark Cannizzaro

Sports

Mickelson returns the trophy he drank $18K bottles of wine out of

HOYLAKE , England — You could make the argument that few winners of the British Open have had more fun carrying around the Claret Jug for a year than Phil Mickelson.

Since his breakthrough victory last year at Muirfield after 19 failed attempts to solve links golf and take home the coveted silver jug, Mickelson has slept with the trophy, dropped it off for the day at his various clubs so the members could enjoy it, brought it to corporate outings and social functions and toted it to dinner at restaurants.

One of the first things he did after he won the Open was take it to the headquarters of Callaway, his club manufacturer, and let the employees handle it as a thank you for their part in his success.

The thing Mickelson did most often with the Claret Jug, though, following what he believes is the most significant victory of his career, was drink from it. With family and friends. A lot.

Mickelson was like a selfless child reveling in his new toy and anxious to share it with those closest to him.

“It’s been a really fun year with the jug, because I’ve been able to share it with a lot of the family and friends that have been helpful to me throughout my career,’’ Mickelson said Monday upon arriving at Royal Liverpool to defend his Open title. “It was fun to see the faces of the people that have such a respect and reverence for the game and this championship and what it means to be able to take a picture with it or drink a sip out of it.

“One of the things I stressed is that we treat the Claret Jug with reverence and respect that it deserves and put only good stuff in it … and each person that I brought it to had a different definition of what the good stuff was,’’ Mickelson deadpanned. “One of my friends, [his] definition of the good stuff was a bottle of 1990 Romanee-Conti [Burgundy] wine. I didn’t know what this was when I drank it … [but] it was delicious and I was very appreciative. We drank a few bottles that night.’’

Asked if he knows how expensive the wine is, Mickelson said, “I do.’’

According to several Internet reports, a case of that wine was sold in Hong Kong for $297,400. Wine-searcher.com lists single bottles for sale for approximately 12,000 British pounds, or around $18,000.

With a year’s worth of fun now fond memories, in the “All good things must come to an end” department, Mickelson handed the Claret Jug back to R&A chairman Peter Dawson on Monday morning with hopes of hoisting it again on Sunday and taking it back to California for another year of revelry.

To do that, though, Mickelson will be challenged to rediscover the form he had a year ago at Muirfield, because he hasn’t had a lot of success since the victory. Not only has he not won a tournament since, this is the first time in his professional career he has gone this deep into a season without so much as a top-10 finish.

Mickelson holds the Claret Jug after his triumph in the British Open at Muirfield in 2013.AP

“It obviously hasn’t been a good year,’’ Mickelson said. “Normally, I would be discouraged or frustrated, but I’m not. I haven’t had the results. I know I haven’t played well. But the parts of my game feel a lot better than the whole right now.

“I don’t know when it will all click together. I don’t know if it will be this week. I don’t know if it will be in three weeks or a month or what, but it should be soon. I feel like it’s really close to being good.’’

When Mickelson needs a little boost of inspiration, he looks at the replay of his final round at Muirfield, where he shot 66 to pull away from the field with a magical back nine. He said he recorded the telecast of the final round.

“I just watch it when I have a chance or need a little bit of a confidence boost,’’ Mickelson said.

“The memories and emotions that took place last year and that I created and will have for a lifetime, I’d like to create again. I’d like to create new memories, and it almost motivates me to work harder and play even more, because I know there’s a finite amount of time.

“As I look back on my life, I look back on the highlights of last year’s [British Open], and it brings out the same emotions I experienced at the time. So I’d like to create some more, if possible.’’

With that, of course, would come another year of drinking fine wine out of the Claret Jug.