GOLF U.S. AMATEUR : Mickelson Impressive in Victory

DENVER — Long-hitting left-hander Phil Mickelson added the U.S. Amateur title to his two NCAA championships, beating Manny Zerman, 5 and 4, Sunday in the double-round final.

Mickelson, 20, of Arizona State, was five under par through the 32 holes played. He birdied 10 of them--including five of his last 12--to hold off Zerman, 20, of the University of Arizona.

Mickelson now is eligible to play in next year’s Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and British Amateur.

“This is something I’ve dreamed about for quite a long time,” he said. “It was a tough match. I’d play well, then I’d play poorly, then I’d play well again. But my putter was consistently strong all day.”

Mickelson said the turning point may have come at the par-three eighth hole in the afternoon. He was one-up but looked about to drop to even after Zerman holed out a 55-foot chip shot. But Mickelson promptly sank a 30-foot, double-breaking putt for his own birdie to halve the hole.

“For me to make that putt right on top of him made me feel I was still in control,” Mickelson said. “After he made the chip, I thought I was losing it.”

Zerman felt he was “done in” by the 10th hole, which he bogeyed in both the morning and afternoon rounds. The second time he played it, he drove into the rough, left a wedge short of the green and chipped poorly, leaving himself a 20-footer. He two-putted for bogey, starting Mickelson on a run where he would win four of five holes.

“I just didn’t feel I was quite in sync all day,” Zerman said after hitting only 15 fairways and 16 greens.

He called Mickelson, his teammate when both were seniors at University of San Diego High School, “an all-around great player. He’s a shotmaker with a great head on his shoulders, and he doesn’t get rattled very easily.”

Mickelson, 3-up after the morning 18, immediately dropped the first two holes of the afternoon. They alternated winning the next four holes, but Zerman never could pull even.