Toms takes Mickelson's place in the major league

David Toms, by winning the US PGA, played his way to fifth in the US rankings while his calm evaluation of the situation he found himself in at the 72nd hole impressed everyone. His drive ran to the edge of the fairway and left him in a position where his feet were well below the ball. That brought all the hole's dangers, particularly the lake guarding the green, into play, the more so as he needed a wood to reach the green.

One stroke ahead, he elected to lay up, trusting that he could get a par four at the 491-yard hole with a pitch and putt. His only rival, Phil Mickelson, duly reached the green in two but Toms pitched to 10 feet and, after Mickelson had failed to get a birdie, holed for the championship.

Once again Mickelson was a loser in a big event and later he confessed: "It's frustrating. Everyone keeps talking about me trying to break through and win a major when I'm trying to win a bunch of them. It's hard when you can't get even your first."

Most tournaments, particularly championships, come down to the back nine on the Sunday, when the pressure is at its greatest. In those conditions the more experienced man usually comes through and, when Mickelson, the world No2, managed to cancel out Toms' two-stroke overnight lead at the short 15th, it seemed he was bound to prevail.

It was the manner in which the hole was played that indicated that Mickelson would finally win his major at the 35th attempt and after 11 years as a professional.

The 15th is a fearsome hole, 227 yards and a lake to carry. Toms was leading by two but he hit one of his few sloppy shots, into a bunker. Mickelson's four-iron covered the flag and he was a bit unfortunate to run through to the back edge, 35 feet from the hole.

Toms came out to about 12 feet but then Mickelson, eyes blazing, chipped in for a birdie and Toms, almost inevitably, missed his par putt. Mickelson could hardly stop his celebrations as he walked off the green, now level at 15 under par and with the momentum.

That lasted the 15 minutes it took to play the 16th. This 441-yard hole has an elevated green making it difficult to see the bottom of the rim and therefore to judge distance. Toms did not hit a particularly good shot, to 30 feet, but it was a lot better than Mickelson's which ran 50 feet past the hole.

Mickelson's first putt was strong, ran five feet past and Toms, perhaps sensing his chance, hit a careful putt inches short; a certain par. Mickelson knew the importance of the moment and took an immoderate amount of time surveying his putt. He not only missed, pushing it left of the hole; it did not even hit the rim.

It was a not unfamiliar moment for Mickelson-watchers; he has been prone to moments of weakness at times of stress and seven times he has been within two strokes of the lead on the final day of a major without converting any of those opportunities.

Strangely he is regarded by his peers as one of the great putters, a man fit to be ranked with Ben Crenshaw and before him Bob Charles. But it is also Mickelson's putter that betrays him and now he had given a stroke away at a vital time, with only two to play.

His other problem was that the Atlanta Athletic Club has one of the most difficult finishes in golf, and neither the 17th nor 18th is exactly a birdie opportunity. Toms had only to play for pars and, as it turned out, that was the best eithercould manage.

When it was all over Toms, not previously considered as a major championship winner, confessed: "I'm shocked that it happened, even though it had been an absolute blast all week. I'm glad it's over. I didn't have my greatest game with me today but I hung in there and I'm very proud of myself for the way I played and the way I finished it off."

Mickelson, on the other hand, scarcely knew where to put himself. "I don't know what to say," he repeated. "I know that the close season is going to be a long one because I really felt that this year was where my game was going to break through. I feel as though my scoring has been better than it ever has been and I felt like this was certainly the year where I was going to win a major."