New Phil, Meet the Old Phil

In the past couple years, Phil Mickelson had changed his ways. He was no longer the swashbuckler in majors, going for spectacular shots when the risk didn't make the reward worth it. He took a more considered approach, sometimes playing it safe, always making better course management decisions.

And New Phil won three majors with that approach - the 2004 Masters, 2005 PGA Championship and 2006 Masters.

But on Sunday at the 2006 U.S. Open, Old Phil showed up again, and Old Phil blew it. Mickelson made poor decisions throughout the round, especially on No. 18 when he needed a par to win and a bogey to tie, but instead made double-bogey to give Geoff Ogilvy the victory.

New Phil might have chosen to hit a fairway wood or even less off the tee on the closing holes, having a lead but also having the knowledge that he'd missed all but two fairways on the day. While Mickelson hit only two fairways with his drives, things he did hit included the inside of a trash can and the top of a hospitality tent.

The first dumb decision from Mickelson came early in the round when he tried to hit a fairway wood out of thick rough in an attempt to reach the green, when he could have punched out with an iron and made par the hard way. The attempt at the spectacular resulted in the ball moving only three feet forward, and settling down into the same deep rough. Given a second chance at the same shot - something no golfer wants when the first one counted - Mickelson hit and iron.

By the time he reached the 12th hole or so, every time Mickelson hit driver it was a bad decision. He hadn't had control of his driver all day, and wound up hitting just two of 14 fairways. Amazingly at Winged Foot, Mickelson's creativity and short game were good enough to keep him in the tournament, and, for a while, give him a 2-shot lead on the back nine.

On No. 17, tied for the lead with Colin Montgomerie at 4-over, with Geoff Ogilvy at 5-over, Mickelson's drive was so far left it wound up inside a trash can behind the spectator walkways!

He took a free drop and curled a shot around trees and up onto the green, and wound up saving par.

On No. 18, Mickelson again pulled driver on the tee, and again lost it way left. This time, his drive hit the roof of a hospitality tent well outside the fairway. But he got what looked like a lucky bounce - the ball bounded off the roof and came to rest where spectactors had been tamping down the vicious Winged Foot rough. Mickelson had a good lie, and - knowing by now that Monty had double-bogeyed No. 18 while Ogilvy had parred, meaning that Mickelson had a 1-shot lead over Ogilvy and needed only a par to win or a bogey to tie - needed only to get the ball back into the fairway, advancing it as far as he could without doing anything stupid.

Instead, he tried a heroic shot, but one that seemed doomed from the start. If he'd just punched out, sure, he might not have been able to win it outright. But at least he'd have had that opportunity. And, at worst, Mickelson would bogey and be in a Monday playoff.

The shot he attempted was the sort that only Mickelson and Tiger Woods would even consider. My bet is that Woods would have thought better of it, and that the New Phil would have thought better of it, too.

Instead, Old Phil said, "Let's go for it." He tried to hit a huge slice around and under trees, but what he hit instead was another tree about 25 yards in front of him.

Mickelson again had the chance to hit out to the fairway, although doing so at this point meant playing for the playoff. Old Phil was having none of that. He set up for another heroic shot - blasting an 8-iron up over trees and trying to draw it back onto the green. But instead, the ball splashed down into a back bunker.

It was at this point that Johnny Miller said something along the lines of, "You don't have to ride a white stallion to victory, sometimes you should just limp home and take the win."

New Phil probably agrees with that statement. Old Phil would scratch his head and wonder what Johnny could possibly have meant.

The bunker shot - given the lie and the severity of the green in the direction Mickelson was hitting - was almost impossible, and not even Lefty could put it off. His ball went past the flag and kept rolling, right off the green.

One last gasp - a chip shot for bogey - missed, and Old Phil had blown the U.S. Open.

Miller called it one of the biggest collapses in major championship history. And given the player who did the collapsing, and the manner in which he did it, Miller is probably right about that.