Phil Mickelson has won 35 times around the world, starting with a PGA Tour event when he was still in college. His collection includes three major championships, and he is solidly entrenched at No. 2 in the world rankings.
That must make him the best player to have never won a World Golf Championship.
Mickelson got a chuckle out of the playful suggestion after making a midround adjustment yesterday at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, that led to three straight birdies and a 2-under-par 68, giving him a share of the third-round lead with Vijay Singh and Lee Westwood.
It's not quite the same burden as “best to have never won a major,” the label he shed in 2004 at the Masters. And the WGC events are not nearly as prestigious as the majors.
Even so, the San Diegan has never had this good an opportunity to win one.
“They started midway through my career, so I haven't given them the priority like I do a major, or care about like a major,” said Mickelson, who has skipped four of the WGCs held overseas. “But they are always the best fields in the game, they're always on great golf courses, they're always on tough tests. So I think there's a lot of merit to whoever wins those.”
Tiger Woods has won 15 of them, including six at Firestone. The leaders through 54 holes have a combined 116 victories around the world, and all of them will be going for their first world title.
Singh missed two putts inside 3½ feet, but he holed two straight birdies from 12 feet to keep pace with Mickelson and wound up with a 69. The big Fijian will be in the final group with Westwood, who was far more conventional. The 35-year-old from England said he drove as well as he can remember, missing only two fairways, and wound up with a 67.
Elsewhere
Eduardo Romero of Argentina grabbed the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Senior Open with a 5-under 65. “Fantastic round. I played great today,” said Romero, whose total of 9-under 201 is two shots ahead of Fred Funk (69), who relinquished the lead with three bogeys on the back nine, and three ahead of John Cook (66).
Yuri Fudoh of Japan shot a 3-under 69 to lead by one stroke after the third round of the Women's British Open in Sunningdale, England. Fudoh, who qualified for the tournament by finishing in the top 15 of the championship a year ago at St. Andrews, is at 13-under 203 and in sight of her first major title. Ji-Yai Shin of South Korea (70) is one behind and alone in second after making a bogey at the 18th.
Parker McLachlin made a 9-foot eagle putt in a round of 6-under 66 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round of the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open in Reno, Nev.
