LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Phil Mickelson could taste his sixth career major championship Sunday.
That’s why, when he walked off the 18th green at Valhalla, one shot short of winner Rory McIlroy, Mickelson looked so gutted.
Mickelson sent jolts of electricity through the Valhalla grounds with a final-round charge, shooting 66 and sharing the lead several times on the back nine. But in the end, he could not close it out, making an errant tee shot on 16 that led to a bogey and dropped him out of a tie for the lead.
Another tee shot that missed the fairway on 17 also hurt him, preventing a critical bounce-back birdie.
“It was a fun day for me to get in the mix and fun day for me to make some birdies and move up early so that I had a good chance on the back nine,’’ he said. “I’m disappointed in the outcome. I thought that had I been able to finish those last, five, six holes strong, [it] could have totally flipped the way I look at this year. But now I’ve got some regrouping to do these next three for four months.
“I have some glaring areas in my game that I have to work on, and I feel like if I’m able to continue to be strong and healthy and sharp in these areas of my game, I should have four or five good years that I really want to focus in on, and these next three or four months will be critical for me making sure that I address the issues and that I’m ready to go in 2015.’’
He lamented his short iron play, calling it “terrible this year as a whole.’’
“It’s usually a strength and I’ve got to get that back,’’ Mickelson said. “Perfect example is the wedge shot on 4. That’s right up my alley. I’m trying to hole that half the time and I’m hitting it 18 feet. It was a pathetic shot that when I could have put some pressure on with a birdie, should have knocked it inside 4 or 5 feet, no problem, and I hit a terrible shot.
“Things like that have been happening this year. I can’t let that happen anymore.’’
Two particular shots, had they gone in, might have won the tournament for Mickelson. He nearly chipped in for birdie on 16, with his ball bouncing off the lip, and he ended up with bogey. Then, on 18 and needing eagle, he came within inches of holing out a chip for eagle to get to 16-under, which is what McIlroy’s winning score turned out to be.
“On 18, I thought I had a good chance. It was right in line and then it just broke off at the end,” he said. “I gave it a good chance, but that’s not the opportunity on 18 that I’m looking for. I don’t like being two back having to hole a shot.’’