Phil Mickelson finishes tied for the second position at the HSBC Champions
Phil Mickelson carded a four-under par 68 on Sunday, to finish tied for the second position at the fourth World Golf Championship of the season, the HSBC Champions.
The tournament was being played at the Olazabal Course at the Mission Hills Golf Club, and was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, PGA Tour and the European Tour.
The two-time winner of the tournament entered the final round with a three-stroke deficit against the overnight leaders, Louis Oosthuizen and Lee Westwood.
After recording four birdies on the front nine of the course, Mickelson moved into contention for the top spot.
He then added another birdie on the 11th hole and surged to the top of the leaderboard with a 20-under par overall score. However, a bogey on the very next hole moved him back to the shared second place.
Meanwhile, Ian Poulter was enjoying a great form with his clubs and added birdies on the 14th and the 15th hole to strengthen his lead with a 22-under par score.
After bogeying the 17th hole, Poulter parred the 18th hole and finished the tournament on 21-under.
Mickelson, in the meantime, had a great chance to force a playoff with birdies on the last two holes. However, his poor tee shot, followed by a disastrous chip, forced him to concede a bogey on the 17th hole.
“It was just the worst swing of the week, actually, with that eight iron but it was a very tough pin to get to that I felt like I needed to make birdie. At the time I was two back and trying to make a two,” said Mickelson.
As a result, he needed an eagle on the 18th hole, which he failed to make and finished the tournament with a 19-under par overall score.
Talking to the reporters, he stated that his short game was not good enough to challenge Poulter on the top.
“I tried to carve a few shots into some of the pins and wasn't able to get close enough to them to make birdies to catch him (Poulter),” he said. “But he played really well, and I felt like these four days, I played some good golf and I'll hopefully improve
on it next week”.
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