Mickelson wins HSBC Champions in an Unbelievable Finish

There is only one word that can describe what transpired in the final round at the HSBC Champions tournament in China: UNBELIEVABLE! Phil Mickelson started out the day with a two shot lead over Ross Fisher, and after seven holes he held a five shot lead at 16 under par. Then it all went wrong. On the eighth hole Mickelson hit his drive out of bounds and eventually ended up with a bogey on the hole while Fisher birdied it. Then Phil proceeded to bogey the ninth to finish the front nine in even par 36. Then Fisher and Mickelson went to the back nine. This is where Phil hoped to turn his round around. Going into the final round he hadn’t dropped a shot on the back nine. Unfortunately, things only got worse for Phil. He bogeyed eleven and fourteen and he double bogeyed thirteen. Before you knew it Phil was standing on the sixteenth tee two shots down to Ross Fisher. This is when Phil regained some of his form with a birdie while Fisher pared. While all of this was going on Lee Westwood mounted a back nine charge to finish at 10 under par, which was one stoke back of Mickelson and two shots back of Fisher at the time. After both men pared the seventeenth Fisher went to the eighteenth one shot ahead of Mickelson. This is where the proceedings turned unbelievable. Both men hit decent drives. Then both men decided to go for the green in two at the par five. This is tough because of all the water around the green. Hitting first Fisher hit his shot just left of the green in the rough. Then it was Phil’s turn. He put a mighty blow on the ball and did initially carry the water, but the ball just carried the water landing on the bank and then it rolled back into the water. At this point it looked like Ross Fisher had the tournament all rapped up, only needing to get down in four shots from just off the green to win. Unfortunately for Fisher he hit a terrible pitch shot that landed on the edge of the green and rolled into the water. Phil was back in the tournament from the dead now! After taking a drop after going in the water himself Phil hit a wedge shot to about 15 feet. Fisher also took a drop and hit up onto the green. Fisher was first to putt and he missed. This left Phil with a putt to win the tournament! He put a great stoke on the ball, but missed giving him a bogey. Fisher then rolled in his putt for double bogey putting him in a tie at 10 under par with Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood. This meant a playoff was to come. They would play the eighteenth hole until a champion was crowned. On the first playoff hole all three men barely missed their birdie putts. Then on the second playoff hole all three men hit good drives and decided to go for the green in two. Westwood was first to go. He hit it into the water and was in all likelihood out of the running, but in golf anything can happen. The both Phil and Ross hit their shot up next to the green with Phil in the rough and Ross in the bunker. Fisher played first and hit it to about 18 feet. Then it was Phil’s turn. He hit a beautiful pitch shot to about five feet, so it would be Fisher to putt first for birdie. Fisher’s putt was never on line as it missed. This left Mickelson with a 5 foot putt to win the HSBC Champions. After his caddy “Bones” and he took a look at the line Phil stepped up and promptly knocked down the putt to win. This was Phil’s first win on the European Tour and his first win on foreign soil since he won the 1993 Tournoi Perrier Paris tournament on the European Challenge Tour.

The International Golf Season Heats Up

Most people in the United States of America think of November as the time when the professional golf season winds down, but people that keep track of international golf events know that this is one of the best times of the year to watch golf. Last week marked the end of the PGA Tour season; what most people don’t know is that last week also kicked off a solid stretch of international events. This solid stretch started with the Volvo Masters on the European Tour, and the Barclay’s Singapore Open on the Asian Tour. At the Volvo Masters Justin Rose led throughout, and eventually won in a playoff after finishing regulation play at one under par. Then at the Singapore Open, which was played at the Sentosa Golf Club, Angel Cabrera of Argentina beat a star studded field with a score of eight under par. This star studded field included the number two player in the world Phil Mickelson, who unfortunately finished at eight over par while battling illness, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, and Adam Scott. The field also included top Asian players like Liang Wen-chong of China and Shiv Kapur of India. This week all of the top players from the Volvo Masters and the Barclay’s Singapore Open will be gathering in China for the HSBC Champions event along with a host of other great players. Also in future weeks we will be seeing many more great international golf tournaments including: the Casio World Open and the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on the Japan Golf Tour, the UBS Hong Kong Open on the Asian Tour, the Michael Hill New Zealand Open, the MasterCard Masters, the Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship, and the MFS Australian Open Championship on the PGA Tour Australasia, and finally there are the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Airways Open on the Sunshine Tour. Also many of these events are co-sanctioned with the European Tour. All in all this is a great time of year for an international golf fan, especially if someone has The Golf Channel.