Local favourite Phil Mickelson's US Open chances were blown apart by a quadruple-bogey during the third round at Torrey Pines.
Local favourite out of contention after running up quadruple-bogey
Phil Mickelson was left disappointed after his US Open chances were blown apart by a quadruple-bogey during the third round.
Mickelson, playing in front of his home crowd at Torrey Pines, was making steady progress on Saturday until he reached the 614-yard, par-five 13th.
After coming up about 40 yards short of the green with his second shot, he had an uphill pitch to a hole location at the front of the green. The left-hander struck the ball a little softly and watched in dismay as it rolled back almost to his feet.
It was a similar story on the next two shots until, on the fourth attempt, he finally got the ball to stay on the green.
"I was one-over par and I felt if I could get birdie there on 13, I could get back to even-par for the day," said Mickelson, who eventually signed for a 76 to leave himself on nine-over for the tournament, 12 shots behind leader Tiger Woods.
"I felt one or two (birdies) coming in and I would be right there, so that's obviously a bummer.
"It's a great pin that will entice guys to get a little bit close and certainly that's what I did on my first shot.
"The other two were just poor, but the first shot had a good chance of being close and making birdie, and it just came back down."
By the end of the round, Mickelson seemed to have come to terms with his fate, and was even talking about next year's US Open at Bethpage.
"I'm certainly disappointed I'm not in the mix," added the world number two.
"This is something I wanted a lot and I just didn't play well this week, so I'm going to come out tomorrow and enjoy my final round.
"And Bethpage is one of the best places ever - one of the best memories in the game of golf I've ever had. I get to go back there next year for the US Open. So I'm excited about the chance to try to break through and win my first US Open there."
Villegas confident
Meanwhile, Camilo Villegas fired a second successive round of 71 to get into a promising position heading into the final round.
He is now two-over-par for the championship, five behind Woods, and the Colombian revealed that conditions were still tough on the California coast as he goes on the hunt for a first major title on Sunday.
"It was a grind out there, I had to battle hard and stay patient," he revealed.
"I have learned a lot from my previous experiences at the US Open - some good and some bad - but I believe I am a better player now than two or three years ago and experience is such a big thing in this game.
"I am just going to keep having fun and hopefully the guys at the front will not be too far ahead at the end of the day."
