U.S. Open - A Look Back at 2006
When we look back at the 2006 PGA Tour season several things are forgotten.
Tiger Woods tallied another incredible year: he won eight tournaments (including two majors), collected his seventh money list title, and added even more to his record with his eighth Player of the Year award.
Phil Mickelson captured his second green jacket at Augusta, his third major in three years.
Geoff Ogilvy won possibly the most prestigious tournament and toughest test in golf: the US Open.
Many of those moments are forgotten because the entire 2006 season can be summed up in two words: Winged Foot.
Ogilvy will never get the credit he deserves for winning the US Open at Winged Foot last year because he was not the story. The story was Mickelson and his catastrophic collapse on the 72nd hole.
Mickelson led Ogilvy by one stroke entering the final hole. He then proceeded to fly his tee shot into a hospitality tent, chose not to lay up, hit a tree with his second shot, hit his third into a greenside bunker, flew his bunker shot over the green, and finally two-putted his way out of the winner’s circle and into infamy.
Mickelson did not help his own cause by capping the media frenzy that engulfed him after his collapse with a quote that will follow him for the rest of his professional career: “I am such an idiot.”
Granted, Mickelson did let a golden opportunity to win his third consecutive major slip through his fingertips, but some positive recognition needs to be given to him and Ogilvy for their performance on one of the toughest stages in golf.
Ogilvy’s 5-over par total of 285 was the highest over par score since 1974 when Hale Irwin won with a 7-over 287 total also at Winged Foot.
It was evident Winged Foot was a tough test, just ask Woods. He missed the cut after two rounds of 76; it was his first missed cut in a major as a professional
Ogilvy never broke par all tournament yet managed to keep himself near the top of the leaderboard with a steady dosage of pars. He did, however, mix-in a dramatic chip-in on the 71st hole to pull within one stroke of Mickelson.
But, like many other memories of the 2006, this shot was forgotten and deemed secondary to the play of the self-proclaimed idiot...but the idiot played pretty well.
After the final round, Mickelson admitted how poorly he drove the ball throughout tournament. Nonetheless, Lefty still led the US Open, statistically the hardest course in 2006, with one hole to play. If he had won his third straight major he would have entered a group that included golf royalty: Woods, Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones. Now, Mickelson sits in notorious company with Sam Snead as the record holders of most runner-up finishes at the US Open (4).
Mickelson’s demise at last year’s US Open can all be forgotten with a win this week at Oakmont Country Club.
