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Phil Mickelson's final-hole par save at Quail Hollow is as good as it gets

By T.J. Auclair
Published on
Phil Mickelson's final-hole par save at Quail Hollow is as good as it gets


We all know that Phil Mickelson is a short-game magician.
 
On the final hole of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday, Lefty pulled out all the tricks.
 
After a not so great second shot on the difficult par 4, Mickelson found himself having to practically straddle the creek in order to play his third shot.
 
 
He played the shot well enough to get on the green -- a great shot considering the situation. And you've got to hear him describe it.
 
"It was leaning against a rock," Mickelson told the media. "It was touching a rock, but somehow I was able to get way underneath the ball. It was kind of on such a severe lie, I was able to hit it vertically. So I hit it off the toe and the toe of my wedge is all banged up. Not the sole, but the far end of the toe. I semi played it into the rock to kick it to the right over the pin. So I went up vertically ad used the side of the rock to kind of get it to go to the right."
 
And how does one hit a shot vertically?
 
"I don't know, but I've done it," he said. "Whether it's in play or practice or whatever, I mean, I've done it growing up as a kid. I don't know, I've just done it a bunch."
 
But what good is a great shot from a hazard if you don't hole the par putt?
 
Evidently, that's what Mickelson was thinking too. He buried the putt for par, a final-round 2-under 69 and a top-10 finish.