Mickelson's little miss at Pebble Beach puts him in good company on a dubious list

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In Scotland there is a famous rugby fly half who had just missed a little 20 yard kick in front of the nation and 75,000 on a Saturday afternoon at Murrayfield to lose their Calcutta Cup match by a point to the old enemy, England.

In the post game trauma he tearfully told the assembled media he could make that kick 10 times in a row in his slippers.

Later that night under a full moon when all but a few of his closest friends had long since gone, there he was, with a bag of rugby balls, in his slippers, in the empty stadium, kicking one after another with a slight draw right through the uprights, as if to erase the scar the big one he had missed hours before had left on his psyche, not to mention his heart.

I could imagine "Lefty" out there last night on the 18th green just before midnight at Pebble Beach, in his slippers with a shag bag of balls, sinking that little 5 footer with a slight draw over and over, right into the center of the cup.

For the record, his stunning miss left Vaughn Taylor the unlikely winner after a hard charging -7 65 was at the right place at the right time for his first win in 10 years and all the bobbles and trinkets that go with it, including a trip to Augusta in a few short weeks.

Mickelson said all the right things afterward about how well he played all week, how close he is getting, how good it was to be in contention.. etc etc etc..

However this one is going to sting and not for the first time in his career (2006 US Open at Winged Foot) but if I were his shrink this morning, after I'd had him reassess his lovely wife Amy and her fight with cancer, and his beautiful daughters who never have to worry about a red cent for the rest of their and their children's lives I would remind him he is also a member of a dubious list, that have some pretty talented names on it.

Just speak to Doug Sanders about his 2 footer for the Open Championship, or Jean Van de Velde or Scott 'wide right" Norwood of the Buffalo Bills, or Bill Buckner, or members of the Stanford Cardinal and their band after "the Play" against the Golden Bears in 1982, or when Saskatchewan had thirteen players on the field during the last second Montreal field goal attempt to cost them the 2009 Grey Cup.

Oh the list goes on and on, yesterday Leicester City lost a hard fought game at Arsenal on the last kick of the game after 6 minutes of extra time, it's a long list, it's a dubious one to be on.... but it's full of great people, full of champions..like Phil Mickelson..

Bryan Angus