Massacre at Winged Foot, Part II

By MERCER BAGGS
Managing Editor, GolfChannel.com

Editor's Note: TheGolfChannel.com is counting down its top 5 stories from the world of golf in 2006 and looking ahead to the five 'Big Questions' on the PGA TOUR in 2007. This is story No. 2 from this past season.
 
It doesn’t take much to change perception. For if it did then it would take more than just a moment in time to alter how we feel about someone.
 
Prior to the start of the 106th U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson was perceived by many as the greatest golfer on the planet. He was the Masters champion. He was the winner of two consecutive major championships. He was a man of immense talent – and immense confidence.
 

All of that, combined with the fact that Tiger Woods, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, was making his first start in nine weeks, meant Mickelson was easily the man to beat at Winged Foot Golf Club that third week in June.
 
A Mickelson victory meant history. It meant three straight major victories, something only Woods had accomplished in the last 50 years. It meant talk of a MickelSlam. It meant that he would not just be Tiger’s chief rival – he would, for a moment in time, wear the crown.
 
And that’s how long it took for everything to change – a moment.
 
For 71 holes, Mickelson scrapped his way around Winged Foot, battling a balky driver and inconsistency from the start. Nevertheless, he was in sole possession of the lead. One shot up on the field; one hole from living out a childhood fantasy.
 
Mickelson had been dreaming of winning the U.S. Open ever since he was a kid. He had been preparing for this moment ever since he finished his second Masters celebration. He had not only played preparatory rounds at Winged Foot, he had done so in the twilight hours, trying to mimic the conditions he would face should he be in the final group, playing the final hole in the final round, and doing so with a chance to win.
 
And here he was, just as he wanted to be.
 
A par seemed inevitable. After all, this was the “new” Phil Mickelson. The one who knew how to finish off major championships. The one who now received rewards without all the risk.
 
And when Colin Montgomerie – oh, poor Colin Montgomerie – butchered the hole in front of him, Destiny herself seemed ready to crown Mickelson.
 
It was to be a coronation. It was instead another massacre.
 
In the 1974 U.S. Open, Hale Irwin won at Winged Foot with a 7-over-par 287 score. Only seven players broke par that entire week. The late Dick Schaap, noted author and sportswriter, dubbed it “The Massacre at Winged Foot.”
 
Thirty-two years later, a reprisal seemed to be taking place. Only 11 players broke par over four rounds – no one lower than 2-under 68. The course, with its newly implemented “graduated rough,” had ensnared the likes of defending champion Michael Campbell, Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia. Chewing them up and spitting them out like stale gum before the weekend began.
 
The most notable player on that list of early exits was Woods. Playing for the first time since the death of his father, Woods could only manage a pair of 76s. It was his first missed cut in a major as a professional.
 
But it was what took place on Sunday that led to mouths agape, spirits shattered, and perceptions forever changed.
 
There was Jim Furyk, who missed a 5-foot par putt on the final hole which ultimately would have gotten him into a playoff. There was Padraig Harrington, who bogeyed his final three holes to finish two behind.
 
Then there was Monty, poor Monty. The man synonymous with major championship failure was tied for the lead while playing the par-4 18th. After successfully navigating a tee shot that didn’t really fit his left-to-right ball flight, he found himself in the right side of the fairway, 172 yards from the hole.
 
With the pin placed on the back right of the green, he was now in perfect position for his power fade. A playoff was all but assured. An outright victory a real possibility.