Mickelson misses opportunity to go low in Masters third round

Phil Mickelson has played in enough Masters Tournaments to know when Augusta National is there for the taking.

So when he walked off the course Saturday after shooting 2-under 70, the three-time champion knew it was an opportunity lost to better position himself for a fourth green jacket.

"The opportunity was there for everybody to go low," Mickelson said. "I really should have shot 6-, 7-, 8-under par and I shot two. I let a lot of shots go and that's going to cost me, but it's still fun for me to be in the thick of it. I go into tomorrow's round knowing if I pull off a great, historical round I can do it."

Mickelson goes into the final round tied for 14th at 6-under for the tournament, seven shots behind Francesco Molinari. With a number of guys between him and the top of the leaderboard, even an historic day might not get it done.

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But he's been around long enough to never rule anything out at Augusta.

"Tomorrow, you never know," he said. "I'm going to have to shoot 7-, 8-, 9-under par, but I love that I even have that chance."

Mickelson somewhat salvaged his day with a birdie on No. 18, offsetting a bogey he made one hole earlier. He made only two bogeys, the other coming at No. 5. But with only four birdies, the opportunities he missed weighed on his mind.

"I was just fractionally off," Mickelson said. "I missed a couple short putts in the round at 5, 6 and 13. Every time I tried to get close, I was just off."

Starting the day just three shots off the lead, Mickelson took an aggressive mindset to the course, hoping to take advantage of the ripe scoring conditions. At times it paid off, attacking the flagstick for a seven-foot birdie on No. 3 and hitting it to nine feet for birdie on No. 12.

But those moments he was "fractionally off" cost him.

"When you get aggressive here – like I did into 17 and the ball goes over, or into 13 trying to get back there and not making birdie – there's penalties if you don't pull the shot off," Mickelson said. "I tried to get aggressive today and I was close. I hit a great shot in there on 9 and thought I stiffed it and it went over the green and now I've got a tough shot.

"It seemed like that was the theme of the day for me. But usually when that happens the next day it clicks, so I'm hopeful tomorrow's that day."