Golfer Phil Mickelson moves up to world ranking to No. 3 after winning the Shell Houston Open 2011 on Sunday. Phil Mickelson carded a final round of 7-under-par 65 and won by three strokes over Chris Kirk and Scott Verplank.
Mickelson was wild off the tee and with his approaches in the opening holes, and while he was able to chip-in to take the lead at the first, the wildness cost him bogeys at the next two holes. Birdies at the fourth and seventh got him within a stroke of the lead, but people will talk about his run of five straight birdies starting at the ninth to to bring him into a tie with Scott Verplank, who was nearly as hot. Mickelson’s run of birdies ended at the par-3 14th, but the lefty took the lead by a stroke when Verplank missed a three-footer for par. The par-5 15th hole saw Mickelson lose focus with a three-putt par from 24 feet; however, he gained two more strokes at the par-3 16th after converting a five-footer for birdie parlayed with a Verplank bogey. Mickelson overshot the final green, but then almost holed out with his chip. The SHO is his 39th career PGA TOUR victory, but first since turning 40 years old last June.
[via MSNBC]