ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 26, 1996 TAG: 9608270038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: AKRON, OHIO
SOURCE: Associated Press
Phil Mickelson got his game together after big trouble on the back nine to pick up birdies on 16 and 17 and win the World Series of Golf on Sunday, his fourth victory of the year.
Mickelson started the day with a three-shot lead and ended up winning by the same margin. But he frittered away his lead with bogeys at 8, 12 and 13 to fall into a tie with Billy Mayfair and Duffy Waldorf. He hit into the heavy rough at Firestone Country Club at 11, 12 and 13 and had to scramble.
He made superlative saves for pars at 11 and 14 - escaping further damage by punching onto the green from the deep right rough at 11 and blasting out of a greenside bunker to 18 inches at 14.
Tied with Mayfair - a close friend and fellow Arizona State golfer - at the 625-yard ``monster'' 16th hole, Mickelson lofted a wedge within two feet and hit the birdie putt to take the lead for good.
Mickelson then clinched the $378,000 first-place check and a 10-year tour exemption by rolling in a 6-foot birdie putt at 17. (Scores in Scoreboard.)
The 26-year-old left-hander's closing round of par 70 left him at 6-under 274.
The victory vaulted his earnings to $1,574,799 - the second-highest total in tour history - in 19 tournaments. He is just $80,160 behind Greg Norman's year-old tour record.
Mayfair birdied No.2 and played cautiously while racking up 15 straight pars, but then bogeyed 17. His closing 70 left him at 277.
Waldorf, who matched Alexander Cejka for the day's low round with a 66, joined Mayfair at three under along with Steve Stricker, who had a 68.
Norman, the defending champion, shot a final-round 71, losing two strokes to par over the final six holes, and was at 278.
Cejka and Davis Love III - who shot a closing 67 - finished at even-par 280.
Mayfair, Waldorf and Mickelson all shared the lead with three holes remaining, with Stricker and Norman right behind. But then Waldorf missed a difficult 6-foot downhill par putt at 17 and had to take a bogey. Mayfair also faltered at 17 and Stricker and Norman were never able to make up ground.
PGA Championship winner Mark Brooks, Masters champion Nick Faldo and British Open winner Tom Lehman all were at 3-over 283. U.S. Open champion Steve Jones finished at 286.
Mickelson qualified for the 43-player, winners-only tournament, sponsored by NEC, with earlier victories at the Nortel Open, Phoenix Open and GTE Byron Nelson Classic.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB