GOLF/US Open: In the week that was in it, the final round of the US Open was, as the man himself might have put it, complete G-U-B-U. Grotesque. Unbelievable. Bizarre. Unprecedented. With the title within his grasp, Phil Mickelson contrived to lose the US Open at Winged Foot with a double bogey on the finishing hole to literally hand the crown to Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

We shouldn't have been surprised, nerve; or at Mickelson's ability to revert to his old wayward self when the pressure was at its greatest. For those crowded around the 18th hole, though, Phil's actions left them shell shocked as his tee shot hit a tent and his attempted approach rebounded off a tree.

What it meant was that Mickelson ran up six for a 74, which left him on 286. Ten minutes earlier, Ogilvy had finished with a par on the last, getting up and down after coming up short of the green, for a 72. It put him on 285, five-over, and a shot clear of Mickelson, Colin Montgomerie and Jim Furyk. Padraig Harrington finished alone in fifth place, two behind Ogilvy, and ruing a closing run of three successive bogeys.

As Mickelson yesterday walked to the first tee in pursuit of his destiny, the skies above Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, an exclusive suburb of New York, revealed a bizarre scene. A police helicopter pursued a light aircraft trailing a banner with a political message, indicating perhaps that, like the pilot, the world's number two ranked golfer wouldn't have it all his own way as he attempted to add the US Open to his stockpile of major trophies.

In what was supposed to be the "Phil and Tiger Show", except that one of those with star billing failed to survive into the business end of the tournament, Mickelson - who shared the 54-hole lead with England's Kenneth Ferrie - proceeded to hook his opening drive, before donning his magician's cap to curl the ball around trees with his approach shot on the way to rescuing par. It was to be a recurring theme of Mickelson's round, which continued right to the death.

Mickelson's opening gambit simply confirmed that this would be no ordinary day, that there would be no pre-destined stroll to a title that would complete the third leg of the so-called "Mickel-Slam" and the second leg of the real thing, the Grand Slam. Indeed, on a swelteringly hot day with the temperatures edging into the 90s on the Fahrenheit gauge, he had to endure a rollercoaster ride to the end where he
played pin-ball with tents and trees on the 18th hole.

What this course gives, it takes away as others found out. Colin Montgomerie was another victim. When the Scot, a player who has been rebuked in majors time and time again in an otherwise golden career, holed a 50 foot birdie putt on the 17th, he moved to four-over and tied with Mickelson. But Monty then proceeded to double-bogey the 18th, missing the green with his approach and then three-putting. He signed for a 71, to be on 286.

Although the triple-bogey finish to his third round on Saturday had been a real sucker punch, Padraig Harrington battled his way into the thick of the hunt. It was an admirable performance. The 34-year-old Dubliner scrambled magnificently early on, holing from 20 feet for par on the sixth and a 20-footer from off the green on the 11th to again save par.

This is what Harrington wanted, to be in contention in a major coming down the back nine of a Sunday. On the 640 yards par-five 12th, he unleashed a huge drive to the middle of the fairway from where he drew a beautifully controlled long-iron approach to 15 feet. The eagle putt, though, moved left of the hole at the death and left him with a tap-in birdie (his first of the round) to move to five-over. When he holed a 10-footer for birdie on the 14th, Harrington moved into a share of the lead.

It wasn't to last, unfortunately. On the 16th, Harrington's approach hit an oak tree and plunged into thick rough. He couldn't get up and down, and that first bogey of his round was immediately followed by another bogey on the 17th after he put his approach into the rough at the back of the green. Having kept a bogey off his card for 16 holes, the rot was well and truly completed on the last where he pulled his approach into the same greenside bunker that he was in on Saturday and took another bogey to finish with a 71 for 287, seven-over. Harrington collected ¤202,344 for his finish.