Bill Haas outlasted Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson at the Northern Trust Open by drilling a long par putt on the second hole of a three-way sudden-death playoff Sunday at Riviera Country Club.
Haas scored a final-round 2-under 69 and went to the practice range while Mickelson and Bradley took their mentor-student duel down to the final hole. After each drained a birdie putt from long distance — Mickelson from almost 27 feet and Bradley from more than 13 — to get to 7-under for the week, fist-pumping and mass hysteria from the Lefty-leaning crowd hugging the 18th green ensued.
One enthusiastic fan even rolled down the slope to the putting surface after Mickelson’s shot dropped. And then it was on to overtime for the reigning PGA champ from New England and his four-time major titleholder hero, each of whom fell in and out of the lead several times on a long, sunny day in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Despite the Philsanity that ruled all week at Riviera, however, Mickelson was unable to go wire-to-wire and his quest for a second consecutive PGA Tour victory came to an end when 2011 FedEx Cup winner Haas drained a 45-foot par putt at No. 10 after laying up sideways from a gnarly lie in the rough.
That, after all three parred the first hole in overtime, No. 18, and moved on to the second playoff hole, the short par-4 10th. Phil proceeded to suck the air out of the gallery when he cranked his 3-wood short of the front bunker.
Bradley followed and plunked his tee shot into that sand trap while Haas flew his ball into the rough left of the green. Haas decided to lay up and take his chances, as Mickelson almost hit the pin with his wedge shot that landed in a bunker behind the green. Next up was Bradley, who splashed his bunker shot to within 14 feet of the hole.
Haas drew first blood by improbably sinking his lengthy putt (“I didn’t think he was going to make that one,” Bradley told reporters of his fellow belly puttist), forcing Mickelson to hole his bunker shot. When the southpaw came up nine feet short, it was one down, Bradley to go. The 2011 PGA champ stuck his own long bat into his non-existent gut and fell to the ground as his shot slid by the hole to the right.
Bradley, who earned his two PGA Tour victories (the 2011 Byron Nelson and PGA Championships) in extra frames, expressed disappointment with ending up on “the other side of one of these playoff losses” but said he hung tough with “one of the best golfers ever to play” and never backed down.
“Playing with Phil in the final group and kind of holding my own and making one on top of him on 18 was something I’ll never forget,” he said. “In the final group, and when I got off to a pretty bad start, you see a lot of guys kind of crumble away, and I kind of fought back. I’ve got a lot to take away, but I’m also very disappointed. I would have loved to have won this tournament.”
Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. View all her articles here. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer
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