04/08/2001

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A half century ago, the purest left-handed swing in sports belonged to Boston's Ted Williams. Many consider him to be the greatest hitter ever, but his career came up short in one regard.

Williams never won a World Series. Something about a dynasty called the Yankees.

A couple of generations later, the sweetest port-side stick in sports (with apologies to Ken Griffey Jr. and Pavel Bure) is swung by Phil Mickelson. Nearly as powerful as Tiger Woods, Mickelson's marvelous rhythm, in particular around the greens, is a source of genuine beauty.

Mickelson has pocketed millions playing golf, even won $440,000 on a 22-1 $20,000 wager on the Baltimore Ravens in Las Vegas. He has a beautiful wife, a second child on the way, the world on a string.

The only thing missing from this wonderful 30-year-old life is a major trophy on his mantle. Something about a dynasty called Tiger Woods.

Today, Mickelson gets his chance to change that. He put himself in position to lead going into the final round of the 65th Masters, then took himself right out of it before rallying with a marvelous birdie-birdie finish.

As a result, Woods and Mickelson tee off at 1:55 Sunday, separated by a single stroke and five major championships.

"I knew I needed birdies at 17 and 18 to get into the last group, and that was important to me," said Mickelson. "I didn't want to have happen to me here what happened at Bay Hill."

A month ago, Mickelson stood by the 18th green, helplessly hoping as Woods birdied the last hole for a one-stroke victory.

"I wanted to be playing with him and not only that, know where the rest of the field stands because there are a lot of guys who could win this tournament. Before we tee off, we could be trailing," Mickelson said.

It won't be for long. Woods and Mickelson will decide the Masters, the two best players in the game determining whether the immense gap between No. 1 (Woods) and No. 2 (Mickelson) has been reduced.

No one with much sense, or at least a sense of history, would bet against Woods running the table on the four majors, but Mickelson believes the near misses in majors past and his personal victories over Woods at other venues could turn that table.

"I desperately want this, very much so," he said. "I've been preparing for this not just for the past year or the past 10 years, but ever since I was a kid picking up range balls, I've been dreaming of this day."

The way the third round began, it seemed Woods might be chasing Mickelson on Sunday. After Mickelson birdied the par-5 second, there was that magnificent lob wedge spinning the ball to within two feet for a birdie on the third. At 10 under, Mickelson was on top while Woods was stalled at eight under, opening with six straight pars.

But sometimes that deft touch on the greens departs Mickelson, and his confidence wavers. It happened at the last Ryder Cup, prompting him to ask captain Ben Crenshaw if he could sit out the third round. It happened again Saturday.

A three-putt from five feet on the eighth hole produced his first bogey. On 10, he was four feet from the hole for birdie and ran it three feet past. Mickelson was still striking the ball well enough to be surviving until he came up short on the par-four 14th.

With his ball resting just off the fringe on a surface flatter than your average muni putting green, Mickelson made the bizarre choice to hit his lob wedge. The ball failed to reach the crest of a hill and ran back.

After running a long par putt past the hole, Mickelson missed the 3-footer for bogey coming back.

"I felt that shot was not an unintelligent shot," he said. "It just left me with a 30-foot par putt, and I three-putted."

At 9 under, he had slipped from the top five. He was three shots behind Woods, which is like being nine shots behind golfing mortals.

But a 14-foot putt for a 3 on the difficult 17th followed by a slippery seven-foot downhill putt on 18 got Mickelson's fist and his fans' hearts pumping once again.

It might have generated nothing but a night of sleeplessness and false hope. But before things could go completely south Saturday, Mickelson's unlikely birdie-birdie finish (the only one in the field), produced the most attractive final pairing possible.

In case there are no congratulations coming Sunday, let's at least pause to applaud him for that.

Tim Cowlishaw can be reached at 214-977-8446 or .