106th U.S. Open will be remembered for Lefty's slip

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MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- The Mickel-Slam is a Mickel-Sham.

Phil Mickelson will not re-create Tiger Woods' feat of winning four consecutive major championships. The man called Lefty had the last two major championships on his mantle at home and the 106th United States Open in his hip pocket. He was all but on his way to Royal Liverpool for the British Open and the chance to play for history and four majors in a row.

And then Winged Foot stepped in and put its big, bad foot down. No course destroys pars like the Foot (as locals call it). If they called the 1974 U.S. Open "the Massacre at Winged Foot" when seven over par was the winning score, what do we call it in 2006, when, after 32 years of technological advances in golf equipment, the winning score was five over par? The 106th Open was every bit a massacre. Australia's Geoff Ogilvy won the Open -- sorry, make that survived it, and only just barely. The Foot was so tough that 10 over par got you a tie for 15th and a return ticket to next year's Open at Oakmont. (Which, in case you were wondering, will be every bit as fun to play as Winged Foot. In other words: not any.)

The main reason the power-hitting Ogilvy, a superstar in the making, survived the Foot was because he survived the final four holes. He finished with four straight pars. None of the next five finishers could say that. And with apologies to Ogilvy, this Open isn't going to be remembered as the one he won. It's going to be remembered as the one Lefty lost ... and Monty lost ... and Furyk lost ... and Harrington lost.

This Open had more crashes than the Daytona 500 and more twists and turns than a pretzel vendor. Every time a contender coughed up a bogey and seemed to fall out of contention, he was back and tied for the lead again within minutes -- kind of like those trick birthday candles you can't blow out.

The only thing missing for this disaster tournament is a catchy title. The Flop at the Foot. The Stomping at the Foot. The Cry Next to Rye (N.Y.). The Massacre at Winged Foot -- Dead Man's Chest. (Sorry, titles for sequels always suck.)

Let's get back to 50 ways to lose the Open. Mickelson looked to have this thing put away a couple of times. A week-long logjam ended when he birdied the 14th and broke to a two-stroke lead. Then Mickelson messed up and bogeyed the 16th, and Colin Montgomerie, the best player who clearly is never, ever, ever going to win a major, snaked in a 40-foot birdie at the 17th to tie for the lead at four over. Then it got complicated.