Mickelson, Spieth charge up leaderboard in final round
Apr. 9—AUGUSTA — Moving day arrived 24 hours late for Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson.
The past Masters champions had rough third rounds — the traditional day to make a move — as bad weather forced the field to finish Sunday morning.
But Mickelson and Spieth, paired together for the final round, put on a show Sunday afternoon. The two combined to make 17 birdies — with a best-ball score of 58 — and charged up the leaderboard.
Mickelson tied for second, and Spieth tied for fourth.
"It was great," Spieth, the 2015 champion, said of the atmosphere. "It was actually pretty quiet for some of the stretches, and then once we both started to really get it going around 10, 11, 12, 13 there, it started to pick up in our group.
"It was really cool. I don't know — obviously being with Phil, who's won it a few times, you get some pretty cool ovations, and I know I've had some really good ones myself."
Mickelson made eight birdies in his round of 65, including five of his last seven holes. His lone bogey came at the par-4 5th. He won the green jacket in 2004, 2006 and 2010.
Spieth made nine birdies, but gave back three shots with bogeys on Nos. 4, 6 and 18 and finished with 66.
As eventual champion Jon Rahm began his journey on the final nine holes, Mickelson was the clubhouse leader. Mickelson, already the oldest man to win a major championship thanks to his PGA Championship victory at Kiawah Island, made some more history.
At age 52, he's the oldest player to finish in the top five at the Masters. Jimmy Demaret held the previous record set in 1962 when he tied for fifth at age 51, 319 days.
"Today is hopefully a stepping stone to really kick start the rest of the year and continue some great play because I have a unique opportunity," Mickelson said. "At 52, no physical injuries, no physical problems, being able to swing a club the way I want to, to do things in the game that not many people have had a chance to do later in life."
Mickelson and Spieth started the final round at 1-under and 10 shots behind leader Brooks Koepka. Both had disappointing third rounds: Mickelson with 75 and Spieth with 76.
Then the birdies began. Spieth said he was trying to match Mickelson shot for shot over the last few holes, but he closed with a bogey and Mickelson made birdie at the 18th.
"When you're that far back, you have to have everything go right," Spieth said. "It was close, but I should have done a lot better in those first three rounds. I made a tremendous amount of mental mistakes.
"To be this close now, it's nice, but it also almost frustrates me more because I really — I made some mistakes I don't normally make out here, and it was more decision errors than anything else."
Mickelson, who joined the LIV Golf tour last year and was an outspoken critic of the PGA Tour, was among 18 players in the field this week who joined the rival tour. Six of them were past champions.
"Again, we're all grateful that we're able to play and compete here, and I think it's tremendous for this tournament to have all the best players in the world here," Mickelson said. "Then as a past champion, to be able to still be a part of it, it means a lot."
