334 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
334 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
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golf
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mastersaugusta
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8439425
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# The Masters 2011: Partisan army of fans fails to lift American idol Phil
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Mickelson up the charts
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## Phil Mickelson is Mr America, a force of nature who can command this
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Georgia garden purely by virtue of his easy gait and gawky grin. The ardour
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with which his devotees want to see him clad in a fourth green jacket tomorrow
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night is almost palpable.
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![Phil Mickelson][1]
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Struggling: Phil Mickelson could only shoot an even-par 72 on the second day
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Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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[![Oliver Brown][2]][3]
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By [Oliver Brown][4] 9:22PM BST 08 Apr 2011
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[Follow Oliver Brown on Twitter][5]
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[Comments][6]
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Walking a round with Mickelson, it becomes plain that he draws such admiration
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from his image as Tiger Woods's antithesis. The mutual enmity between the two
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most gifted players of their generation is one of golf's great smouldering
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subtexts.
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It is not as if Mickelson has not tried. Indeed, the Californian's animus
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towards Woods is understood to be far less pronounced than vice versa. He
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suffers, it seems, from persistent accusations of being a phoney, that while
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he signs autographs for 45 minutes after every round, he laps up the public
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affection with a little too much self-satisfaction.
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Such claims seem, to judge by his conduct at Augusta, grossly unfair.
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Mickelson can ascribe his uniform popularity to the fact that he is so much
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more visibly appreciative of his fans than Woods. An extra incentive to
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prevail this year is that he could become only the fourth man to win four
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**[Masters][7]** titles, after Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer -- and a certain T
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Woods.
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The humid air yesterday was still thick with the memory of what Mickelson
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accomplished on this stage 12 months ago, haring to victory on the strength of
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possibly the greatest shot ever struck, and into the arms of tearful wife Amy.
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They lingered long in their embrace by the 18th green, the thoughts of her
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battle against breast cancer suspended for a second by the unalloyed joy of
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that April Sunday.
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## Related Articles
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* [Final round as it happened][8]
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10 Apr 2011
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* [McIlroy leads after magnificent 65][9]
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07 Apr 2011
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* [Fisher and McIlroy set Masters pace][10]
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07 Apr 2011
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* [Donald wins par-3 event][11]
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06 Apr 2011
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* [Augusta in thrall to evergreens][12]
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06 Apr 2011
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* [Mickelson: No concerns over fitness][13]
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05 Apr 2011
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Whatever else Mickelson achieves here, he will always have reminders of 2010
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close at hand. Then, he reached a state as close to perfection as is feasible
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on a golf course. This time, the task must be approached with a pragmatic
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mind.
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Mickelson does not bring his finest game into this tournament, having failed
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to win an event all year before last week's Houston Open, and yesterday his
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patience was tested in a fluctuating round of 72.
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Mickelson at Augusta can be a far deadlier beast than the tame creature that
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occasionally turns up for regular tour events, yet he appears to be struggling
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to bare his teeth this time around. No sooner had he made his first incursion,
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moving to three under par, than a clumsy misjudgement on a chip into the third
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green put him back a stroke.
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One weapon was inescapable: his distance. Mickelson has undergone treatment on
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his back in an effort to enhance his rotational speed -- in other words, he
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has been freed up to thrash the living daylights out of every drive.
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The trick is working, if his approach to the second was any gauge. Flicking
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the switch to full-bore, he launched the ball nearly 100 yards past poor Geoff
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Ogilvy to set up an easy tap-in birdie.
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Mickelson is never easily satisfied. Reacting to his first-round 70, which
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could have had a cleaner look but for a bogey at the 18th, he said: "It's OK,
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just OK. I didn't shoot myself out of it but I didn't make up ground on the
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field the way I wanted to. I scrambled well today to stay in, but I also let
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four or five good birdie chances slide. I'm going to have to capitalise on
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those opportunities tomorrow if I'm going to go low."
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The ageless grace of his short game was in ample evidence, especially at the
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eighth, where -- in scenes reminiscent of the tremendous six-iron from the
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woods by the 13th to win last year -- he fired an escape from the pine straw,
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on to the green.
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When faced with his all-or-nothing shot at the 13th the previous year, he knew
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that he had to trust his swing. With the support of Jim "Bones" Mackay, his
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faithful long-time caddie, the gamble paid off with interest.
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Under pressure at a major, it was surely among the finest strokes of
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inspiration ever contrived.
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In typical Mickelson fashion, he missed the putt for Eagle, but the impact of
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that one shot was enough to bury all competition.
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After such a performance, his scrambling capabilities should never be in
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question. But this weekend it would appear he might need them, given that on
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Thursday he found fewer fairways than anyone else in the 99-player field.
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With his characteristic contrary streak, Mickelson picked up a birdie at the
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10th, rarely deemed one of Augusta's straightforward holes. But by uncoiling
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himself with such commitment into each shot, he was losing control.
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The best that could be said of his handling of the 13th is that the tee-shot
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did not, unlike in his opening round, sail into the woods.
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Instead the ball was nestled in the right-hand rough, sitting up. From there,
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he proceeded to hit his approach into the swale behind the green and forfeit
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any prospect of a birdie four.
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An agonising putt, sneaking under the cup, heightened his frustration at the
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16th. Another wild drive into the pines thwarted him on the next hole, and it
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was all Mickelson could do to close with a four for an even-par 72. To his
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dismay, the essential ground had not been gained.
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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* Share: [Share][14] [ ][16] [ ][17]
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[Tweet][18]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/mastersaugusta/8439425/The-Masters-2011
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-Partisan-army-of-fans-fails-to-lift-American-idol-Phil-Mickelson-up-the-
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charts.html
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Telegraph
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## [The Masters][7]
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* ### [Sport »][19]
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* ### [Golf »][20]
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* ### [Oliver Brown »][3]
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In sport
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[![The Masters 2011: after the choke][21] ][22]
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### [After the choke][22]
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[![][23] ][24]
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### [The Masters: final round][24]
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[![The Masters 2011: Rory McIlroy is a carefree dreamer with the golf world at
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his feet][25] ][26]
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### [Collapse worse than Norman's][26]
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[![][27]][28]
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### [Montgomerie's course guide][28]
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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Share:
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* [ ][14]
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][17]
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* [Tweet][18]
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* Advertisement
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![][29]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][30] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][31]
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Advertisement
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## GOLF HIGHLIGHTS
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sponsored features
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var puffs_8120654 = new Array();
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[1]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01868/phil-
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mickelson2_1868604c.jpg
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[2]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01817/Oliver-
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Brown_60_1817918j.jpg
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[3]: http://preview.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/oliver-brown/
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[4]: http://preview.telegraph.co.uk/sport/columnists/oliver-brown/ (Oliver
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Brown)
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[5]: http://twitter.com/oliverbrown_tel
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[6]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/mastersaugusta/8439425/The-
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Masters-2011-Partisan-army-of-fans-fails-to-lift-American-idol-Phil-Mickelson-
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up-the-charts.html#disqus_thread
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[7]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/mastersaugusta/
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%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/mastersaugusta/8439425/The-
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