Mickelson Puts Stamp on Ozarks National With 66 in Finale
Thursday, August 27, 2020

    Phil Mickelson shot a nifty 5-under-par 66 in the final round of the Charles Schwab Series Ozarks National, and it was the worst round he posted in three days in Ridgedale, Missouri. Phil wound up 22 under par for three rounds over the par-71 course and won the $3 million Champions Tour event by four strokes over Tim Petrovic, who was the only one who stayed even close to Lefty for 54 holes.

    If Phil's runaway victory in his first event as a senior is any indication, Bernhard Langer's domination of the over-50 group is over. The perennial king finished tied for 20th, 13 strokes behind Phil. Phil's first paycheck is $450,000 and he jumped onto the money list at No. 15. Langer leads after nine events at $914,737, so Phil is just $464,737 behind. 

    To show just how dominating Phil's performance was, in the finale he made five birdies, two bogeys, and an eagle on the par-4 fifth hole where he drove the green and canned a 25-footer.  Over three rounds he banged in 24 birdies and the eagle, with just four bogeys. In addition, he hit 29 of 39 fairways, which has been his biggest bugaboo, and an eye-opening 47 of 54 greens (17-14-16), for an 87.4 percentage.  

    The only player who made a move toward the lead on Wednesday was Kevin Sutherland, who shot 8-under-par 63, but he had gone in at 8-under, so he never got close.  

    Two of the other three tour rookies fared well: K. J. Choi tieing for seventh at 13 under, and Mike Weir tieing for 13th at 11 under. Former PGA champion Rich Beem had some trouble, finishing at even par in a tie for 70th. 

    The Gators: ageless Mark Calcavecchia - 10 under, tied for 15th; Chris DiMarco - 9 under, tied for 20th; Dudley Hart - 5 under, tied for 36th, and Scott Dunlap - 2 under, tied for 59th.  

     

 

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