Will Phil Mickelson Ever Win The US Open?

Second place and its value is often debated in sporting circles. Is being the second best in an event that is at the pinnacle of your sport something you should celebrate, or are you just 'the first loser' as so many call it?

Perhaps it would be wrong to paint it as a total dichotomy, but few cases can encapsulate the ultimate value of winning compared with consistent success than Phil Mickelson and the US Open. A man who has achieved more than most golfers enjoying a superb professional career (which he is still building upon at the age of 43), has won four majors and has been consistently competitive.

He has been consistently competitive at the US Open as well. Mickelson entered last weekend having finished runner up on five occasions and still searching for the Major title that he would perhaps most cherish.

For much of the four days it looked he would finally break his goose egg. On a course that completely defied all expectations of potentially record scores and actually turned into one of the most challenging, difficult and poor scoring tournaments of the 2013 season so far, Mickelson looked comfortable and at home for three days.

The 43-year old led the field through three days of action and entered the final day knowing that a solid outing would secure him that fifth Major and his first at Merion.

Unfortunately for Mickelson he shot a 74 and Britain's Justin Rose shot through in the final round to take a two-shot victory and his first ever Major championship.

32-year old Rose and his exciting talent broke through for an important first Major. Many tip the South African born Englishmen to enjoy prolonged success on the tour over the next decade or so.

It's so often the case with golf that one man's break through is another man's heartbreak. That was certainly the case for Mickelson. Phil has an impressive record of six second-place finishes at the US Open. That record is symbolic of a player who has maintained a place among the game's very best for a prolonged period. A man who deserves to be recognized as one of the top golfers from his era. Still, listening to Mickelson this weekend and seeing Mickelson this weekend, it is pretty clear that he would swap all of those second place finishes for one title.

Maybe being second is better than being the 'first loser', but it's obvious that you can finish second and feel very much like the loser.

Woods Fails Again

Tiger Woods entered the US Open as favorite and promptly disappointed with a weak performance. He was never really in the competition and finished up with an appalling +13. The world no.1 may be playing his best golf in quite some time, but he doesn't look like a man ready to end his major drought, which now dates back five years.

Sergio Garcia Should Be Punished After 'Fried Chicken' Insult Against Tiger Woods

Too often sporting bodies fail to take the necessary action when issues like racism come up. It has happened in football time and time again where bodies like the FA and UEFA have turned a blind eye, or at least absolved themselves of the responsibility to punish, when racism has been the issue. Golf is in danger of going down the same route in the wake of Sergio Garcia insulting Tiger Woods with a blatantly racist remark early this week.

At a recent dinner in London, Garcia was asked by a reporter whether he would have dinner with Woods following the pairs recent feud. Garcia jokingly responded that he would happily have him for dinner every night and would serve him 'fried chicken'.

Garcia quickly apologized for the incident at a press conference with European chief executive George O'Grady and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem reportedly accepting that an apology was enough. Woods has publicly stated that he was extremely hurt by Garcia's jibe and has also reportedly rejected attempts from Garcia to apologize personally.

The fact is that Garcia's comments were extraordinarily offensive and racist. The failure of Golf's governing bodies to act in any serious way should be a major concern and is symptomatic of professionals sports that all too often fail to act on serious issues. 

To be clear 'fried chicken' as a remark directed at African Americans is extremely offensive. Fried chicken is a common food from the American south. It was eaten by black slaves in the south because chicken was virtually the only source of meat. Such a remark made towards Woods with those clear connotations are a disgusting disgrace and made in any context must be acted against.

Woods and Garcia have had a long time feud and dispute ever since a 19-year old Garcia publicly challenged the then dominant Woods. Garcia has never lived up to his potential as a golfer and somehow he and Woods have always managed to end up in the headlines in public spats.

The most recent of those occurred in the wake of Tiger's Players' Championship victory with Garcia accuses Woods of gamesmanship and calling him a liar, while Woods labelled Garcia as a 'whiner'.

 

The war of words carried over to this week when Garcia's final comment went far beyond the realms of appropriateness and acceptability. 

It may seem like an apology is enough, everyone should move on and no punishment should be handed out. However, that really misses the point. Garcia and any professional golfer are representatives of the sport. They need to think about everything they say. In this case, it wasn't a careless or poorly worded comment, it was a designed attack made without thought.

Garcia's apology was necessary and needed to avoid other repercussions. It's possible that main sponsor 'TaylorMade-adidas' will reconsider its position and partnership with Garcia after the 33-year old's public comments.

More must be done. Golf must take a firm stance against racism. It must be clear that its leaders cannot get away with such blatantly racist comments made so flippantly without punishment. An apology isn't enough in this case. This is not about targeting Garcia. It is about ensuring that sport is a leader against discrimination. 

Thoughts On Tiger Woods Player Championships Victory

The story of the 2013 Golf season, as often is the case, is Tiger Woods. The 37-year old continues to be Golf's most recognisable figure and it seems that every casual Golf fan is desperate to see Woods back on top.

The past weekend will have given those people some serious hope. Woods secured his fourth win of the season winning The Players Championships at the Sawgrass course in Florida.

Woods played strong golf throughout this tournament holding his range game together and putting well. It looked like he was in for an extremely tough finish in competition against Sergio Garcia. The two players appeared to be headed towards a playoff before Garcia blew his chances putting a pair of tee shots in the water on the 17th hole.

In the end, Woods finished the tournament by hitting a round of 70 on Sunday and with a -13 score across the four days. The Players Championships is generally considered to be the PGA Tour's 'fifth major' in the US.

Tiger's victory this weekend is perhaps more significant for those hoping for the return to greatness for Woods. His previous three wins of the season had all come on courses where he has traditionally succeeded anyway. He won at Sawgrass in 2001 and 2013 was only Woods' second victory at The Players Championships. This isn't a course where he has done particularly well throughout his career and he played well throughout the weekend. Woods once again proved that he is possibly the best front runner in the game.

It appears that Woods' aura has returned as well. Garcia clearly felt the need to go for more on a tough 17th hole, which ended up costing him his chances of forcing a playoff hole. Woods was able to hold his nerve and took one of the bigger tournaments in the US.

Many have already tipped The Players Championships victory as the beginning of Woods' resurgence and a possible sign that he is ready to seriously challenge and win a Major Golf tournament again.

More is still needed for Tiger. Winning a Major remains a hard psychological barrier. The win at Sawgrass was certainly a big boost, but he was gifted the title by Garcia's errors in the end.

When Woods finally does win a Major assuming he does, then talk can return to 'his return'. Until then 78 PGA tour titles, which is just four short of Sam Snead's record, is a pretty good mark for Woods to reach.

Written by Sebastian Egerton-Read - you can follow Seb on twitter @Seberead

Golf Masters 2013: Never A Dull Moment At Augusta

A good-sized proportion of golf's fans only turn out when Tiger Woods is involved. A huge proportion of golf's doesn't particularly care to hear names like Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera. However, after another four days of drama and excitement at the Augusta Masters, there should be no doubt that there is a lot more to golf than 'Tiger'.

The 2013 Masters was severely threatened by controversy. For much of the tournament it looked like it would be remembered for a two-shot penalty handed to Woods and whether he should have been disqualified, or for a slow shot penalty handed down to 14-year old Tianlang Guan.

In the end seemingly like every other Masters, the 2013 edition made history. Adam Scott chased down long-time leader Cabrera on the final day. The tournament would finally be decided on the second hole of the playoff with Scott sinking a fantastic 12-foot clutch put to secure victory.

Scott's victory made him the first Australian winner at the Masters in its 77-year history. It ended the torment for Australian golf at this competition and gave Scott his first major championship. Scott had endured agony last year at the Open Championship. He led entering the final four holes, but he struck a bogey on all four of those holes being caught and overtaken by Ernie Els.

The dramatic finish in the near dark on a damp and rainy Sunday wiped away all the memories of a difficult and at times uninspiring golf tournament. Scott's emotional speech showed clearly just how much the tournament meant to him as an Australian winner and also as a first time major championship winner.

So much discussion in golf today centres around Woods and whether he can move up from his current 14 major titles to overtake Jack Nicklaus and his record 18 majors. That discussion sometimes clouds the tremendous difficulty that there is in winning just one major title.

There are a lot of very good golfers on the circuit every single year and yet only 44 have won more than one major championship. It isn't easy to win a major championship and it was pretty clear that Scott understood that as he put on his first green jacket.

Augusta is a course that consistently inspires the most exciting golf for television even if many of the participants find it frustrating. The greens are deceptively uneven and treacherous and frequently prove too much to handle for golfers in clutch situations. It's extremely unsurprising that it is a course that seems to have inspired more final day collapses than any other. The victim this year was Brandt Snedeker who struck a three-over-par on the final day. Snedeker started the day firmly in contention and is generally considered to be one of the stronger putters on the PGA tour, but he offered the perfect example of a golfer befuddled by Augusta's greens and rattled by the stature of the competition.

Just about every golfer who competed at the 2013 Masters has their story-line. Just about every day threw up some of the most remarkable golf that will be displayed this season. The focus on Tiger Woods isn't going anywhere for golf. However, the past weekend's 2013 Masters showed that the sport doesn't need one of its legends to be successful.

Rory McIlroy Faces Questions As Majors Season Nears

There were more than a few raised eyebrows early in 2013 when Rory McIlroy was announced as the new front-man for Nike. The deal seemed symbolic of McIlroy's replacing Tiger Woods at the top of Golf, but early in the 2013 season, questions are already being raised about that after a bizarre withdrawal from the PGA National last week.

The 23-year old from Northern Ireland signed a deal to become Nike's new ambassador in a move that makes him one of the highest paid sports stars in the world. There have been no official figures released on the worth of the deal, but reports place it between £62m and £77m over the course of five years. Those estimates man that McIlroy could be making more than £30,000 per day.

Besides the tremendous amount of cash that this deal nets McIlroy. Perhaps even more interesting was the fact that McIlroy's sponsorship deal with the brand effectively saw him replace Woods as Nike's new front man. A fact that went hand in hand with McIlroy replaces the 37-year old at the top of the Golf World Rankings.

Tiger may have been much maligned over the past few years both for his performances off and on, but he is established as one of the great golfers of all time. He has also dominated and brought the sport of Golf into limelight like no other player in the sport's history. McIlroy's effective acceptance of taking over his mantle was major statement for a 23-year old with two Majors to his name, whether it was intention or not.

It's pretty easy to understand the infatuation with McIlroy. He has won two Major championships in the past two seasons, each by a landslide. He set a record 16-under par when he won his first career Major, the 2011 US Open. The victory margin of eight strokes encapsulated the absolute dominance that he enjoyed in that competition.

One year and two months later he proved that dominance was definitely no fluke. He was simply unstoppable running away with the 2012 PGA championship, setting a record with an eight-stroke victory margin once again.

The concern and question surrounding McIlroy's game is his performance when he isn't dominating the competition. In past two seasons he has failed to post even a decent score missing six halfway cuts. This is a player whose mental toughness is questionable when his game isn't on.

The early withdrawal the PGA National will have done nothing to ease concerns that mental toughness and might ultimately be the factor that prevents McIlroy from reaching the giddy golfing heights that Woods managed.

He pulled out less than halfway through the second round of the PGA National under the strangest of circumstances. There was no discussion of a specific injury. The only suggestion was that he wasn't in a good place mentally. There were genuine concerns voiced by many over what McIlroy might be going through.

In the end it was revealed that McIlroy had withdrawn due to a toothache. That's no joke. A wisdom tooth hurting is a painful experience and would certainly stop most amateur golfers in their tracks on a Sunday.

Still, it's concerning that it seems to have effected McIlroy so badly and it is also concerning that he wasn't open and honest about his reasons for leaving the tournament early.

McIlroy ultimately apologised and stated that there was no excuse for his pulling out of the competition. The problem is that his apology doesn't address the concerns that many hold about his game. Ultimately, the 23-year old can probably win one major per year for the next decade simply by winning the competitions where everything is going right.

If he does that then his talent will be rewarded in terms of being regarded as one of the better golfers in history. Still, his endorsement deal and recent comparisons with Tiger, not to mention his fantastic talent, suggest that just maybe McIlroy has the potential to achieve more. Only time will tell whether McIlroy can develop the mental toughness to enjoy the sort of success that his Nike deal suggests he is destined for.