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Associated Press
Friday, November 3

ATLANTA -- Phil Mickelson was atop the Tour Championship leaderboard with three holes to play Friday when it all fell apart.


	Mickelson

An inexplicably poor 9-iron at the 16th started Mickelson's downfall. He double-bogeyed that hole, bogeyed No. 18 and wound up with a 1-under 69, three shots behind leader David Duval.

"Yesterday, I felt like I scored well for the terrible way I was hitting the ball," said Mickelson, who opened with a 67. "Today, I scored horribly for the way I struck the ball. I had a lot of short irons."

At the 16th, Mickelson was right in the middle of the fairway with a 9-iron in his hand. But he punched the ball into the rough near the left bunker, then fluffed his next shot into the sand.

The lefty recovered out of the bunker, but his 10-footer for bogey skidded 4 feet past the hole. He made that putt, but the damage was done.

"There's still 36 holes left," Mickelson said. "I'm going to try to get off to a good start tomorrow and make up for it."