Sunday at Castle Stuart was a day that will live long in the memory. With conditions significantly more difficult than the previous three days, it became one of the most dramatic final days in the 31-year history of the Scottish Open, as Phil Mickelson went through emotions of agony to ecstasy as he claimed the title with a touch of genius.
After over-coming a double bogey start on a Castle Stuart links that for the first time bared its teeth, as a cool and strengthening breeze buffeted the course, Mickelson found himself playing the 18th hole with a one-shot lead over South Africa’s Branden Grace. Requiring just a par to win, Mickelson shocked the record crowds by three-putting from just off the green to fall into a sudden-death playoff with Grace.
However, playing the 18th once again in the playoff, Mickelson avoided a repeat of his defeat to Gregory Havret at Loch Lomond in 2007, by producing the most stunning pitch shot to within a matter of inches to win the title.
"This is really cool," said Mickelson, who claimed his first victory in Britain just four days before the start of The 142nd Open Championship at Muirfield. "I have been coming here for some time and had some opportunities and I almost let it slip away today. To come out on top was terrific.”
It was the 43-year-old’s 11th appearance in the Scottish Open, and the mistake on the final hole of regulation play was something that caused the American much frustration: "I was so mad at myself for mentally losing my focus that I came out on that 18th pretty focused to make a four."
After bouncing back from that frustration to claim victory, Mickelson reflected on what it meant to him to win in Scotland: “This tournament, it's special to me. And playing here in Scotland, when it's the Home of Golf; to somebody like myself who has just loved everything about the game of golf and all that it's given me and given my family and how much joy it's given my life; to play well in the Home of Golf really means a lot to me.”
It is Mickelson’s first victory in a regular European Tour event, and it is one that will take him back up to fifth in the latest world golf rankings. However, it’s a victory that he will derive great satisfaction from with the fact that it as accomplished on a links course. For many years, the four-time major champion hasn’t consistently performed well on Britain’s classic seaside courses, to the bewilderment of many observers who have always felt that his creative imagination and shot-making skills would be an ideal fit. But in the testing conditions with the wind picking up from the Moray Firth, Mickelson, who admits that he has only begun to effectively play links golf within the last seven or eight years, answered the critics who have long suggested that he could not compete on this style of golf course:
“It's important to me, and it's probably the biggest challenge of my career is hitting the shots that are required here. Getting good touch on or around the greens; putting these fescue greens well, as well as controlling the ball flight in severe crosswinds. And so to win here and to play well here, finally win on a links golf course, it really means a lot to me, and it also builds my confidence heading into future Scottish and Open Championships.”
It is also a victory that will see him onto Muirfield for the 142nd Open Championship with an increased confidence and belief. He now has a victory on a links course, and it’s one that will provide invaluable self-belief as he looks to take another step towards completing the career grand slam at the game’s oldest Championship:
“It certainly is a confidence-booster. It certainly helps my play on links golf, and having a day like today, where the weather was difficult, where I was in contention in the final group and feeling the pressure of the lead; that this can only do good things. But, to win any Open Championship, whether it's the Scottish Open or the Open, on links golf, you need some luck. You need a little bit of luck. You need some good breaks with your tee times; I had some good weather with my tee times this week. You need some good bounces. You just need a little bit of luck, as well as good play. And so hopefully I'll put myself in position through good play to have a chance, if I can get a few good breaks. But that's part of--you've got to embrace those elements if you want to play well in links golf and The Open Championship.”
Branden Grace, who had revered caddy Billy Foster on his bag this week, once again illustrated the skills that took him to four titles on the European Tour last year, including the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in October. This season hasn’t yet matched those heady heights, but he will travel to Muirfield with the knowledge that he can contend and win on a links course.
Overnight leader Henrik Stenson and JB Hansen shared third-place. Stenson didn’t look as comfortable as he did on Saturday, as he struggled to a final round of 73 on a way where the most minor of mistakes would be exacerbated by the conditions that yielded just five rounds in the 60s compared to the total of 146 from the previous three days. Hansen, the 22-year-old rookie from Denmark, was to provide one of the most remarkable stories of the week.
Coming into the tournament ranked 175th on the Race to Dubai, Hansen had found himself in a position to make a surge up those rankings and claim his Tour card for 2014. However, it all looked lost after the second hole where he took a devastating quadruple bogey nine. Devastating to the scorecard perhaps, but not to the psyche of the Dane who produced a stunning rally of six birdies in his subsequent seven holes to rise right back into contention, and, at one stage, to the summit of the leaderboard. Sadly, three closing bogeys would take him back into third, but it’s a performance that significant confidence can be taken from for the remainder of the season.
It may have been Mickelson’s week, but it was also a hugely important and successful few days for the Scottish Open itself. With the Saturday announcement that the future of the tournament was secure, Castle Stuart provided a wonderful spectacle for viewers tuning in from the United States on NBC. It was the first European Tour event to be broadcast live on network television, and the images of the stunning layout served as a fantastic advertisement for Scottish Golf.
Next year, the Scottish Open will relocate to Royal Aberdeen in the North East, before returning to Castle Stuart at some stage within the next three years. It is a fitting reward for the modern-day masterpiece just outside of Inverness, which has served as a fantastic host of the event since 2011, and illustrated on Sunday that under the right conditions it can indeed become a significant test of golf.
Ultimately, it was Phil Mickelson who just about passed that test ahead of the rest, and he will travel to Muirfield hoping to lift one of sport’s greatest trophies next Sunday; the Claret Jug. The Scottish Open served as the perfect appetizer, as many players have already begun their preparations for Muirfield.
Golf’s oldest Championship returns to one of its most revered venues, and it will provide the most thrilling spectacle as players attempt to win the 142nd Open Championship.
As we enter the second leg of this fantastic fortnight of golf in Scotland, all eyes are now on Muirfield.