Phil Mickelson runs into Hotel trouble in final round of the Open
Last Updated: 20/07/15 5:29pm
Phil Mickelson fell victim to the notorious Road Hole as his final-round charge came to a dramatic halt in the 144th Open at St Andrews.
The 2013 champion was one of the biggest movers up the leaderboard in the early stages of the first Open Monday since 1988, rolling in his sixth birdie putt of the day at the 15th to move within two shots of the lead on 10 under.
But he came unstuck at the 17th, where he pulled his drive too far left and his ball clattered off a roof before finishing on a balcony outside a bedroom in the Old Course Hotel.
Mickelson has earned a reputation for attempting outrageous shots from unlikely parts of the course, but he was prevented from attempting another noteworthy escape as the hotel is deemed out of bounds.
It was a good late move but on the front nine I let a lot of shots go. I had a lot of opportunities I just couldn't capitalise on. Then I tripled 17
Phil Mickelson
After hitting a second ball into play, Mickelson ran into further problems up at the green and walked off with a triple-bogey seven, and a closing par completed a 69 that saw him finish on seven under for the week.
Crazy places
"I've tried hitting shots from some crazy places," said the 45-year-old, who twice played off a hard floor in a hospitality area at The Barclays last year and was even offered a beer for his troubles by a fan.
"But I don't know if I would have climbed up to do that. I could have just hit it a little more left and been on the fairway.
"It was a good late move but on the front nine I let a lot of shots go. I had a lot of opportunities I just couldn't capitalise on. Then I tripled 17. I hit a good, solid shot. It just over-drew a little bit. I was trying to draw it around the corner. It wasn't like it was a horrific shot, I just overturned it."
Mickelson's chances were also undermined when he hit into another of St Andrews' notable landmarks, the Swilcan Burn, during his third round.
He said: "I love the golf course. I don't feel unlucky on it. I think that it's a very fair test and if you hit good shots you get rewarded, and if you hit shots like I did on a few holes, you get penalised. It's just a good golf course."