USPGA CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROUND: ONCE SEEN as a rivalry of the age, times – and circumstances – have changed. Yesterday, as Phil Mickelson completed his 300th stroke of the 91st USPGA Championship at Hazeltine National, the world's number two could only offer a wry grin and that so-human shrug of his shoulders.

For sure, there are more important things on his mind these days than golf; still, to be finished the season’s final major before Tiger Woods has even driven into his reserved spot in the parking lot doesn’t do much for anyone’s sense of well-being. The gulf between one and two is ever-widening.

Mickelson’s last win in a major championship came in the 2006 US Masters, his third major in three seasons. Since then, the majors have proven to be barren terrain; and his off-course worries – with his wife and mother battling breast cancer – have, for the most part, taken priority over his golf game.

Still, this is not what Mickelson wanted. Ahead of the championship, he was gung-ho about his prospects. But when it mattered, his game was rusty and the sharpness required to tackle a course like Hazeltine had gone Awol.

Yesterday, he was paired with Japanese 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa and was out-scored by four strokes, a 76 to a 72. When the numbers were added up, Mickelson’s 76 for 300 left him with just six players below him.

On Saturday, Mickelson had pinpointed putting as his problem.

“It’s the biggest issue for me, I’ve got to get this putter straightened out. I’ve got to get confident on the greens, to start seeing lines better and to get my speed better . . . because if you get the ball in the hole, everything else falls into place.”

Mickelson refused to make or use any excuses, dismissing the medical problems faced by his wife and mother. “My expectations are high. I’m disappointed with my performance this week, regardless of what’s going on or off the course. I still have high expectations.”

Yesterday, he cut a forlorn figure. Especially on the 16th, the par four that is the signature hole on the course with a tee-shot over the lake’s edge to a fairway that has water right and left. Unfortunately for Mickelson, he found the creek that runs down the left and ran up a seven. To rub salt into his wounds, Ishikawa chipped in from 40 yards for a birdie three.

“I think Ryo handles the throngs of people around him all the time, he’s a classy guy,” said Mickelson, who forecast the Japanese teenager had the potential to be one of the new generation’s greatest prospects. One of the great ones?

“I would think so, he’s winning a lot in Japan and has a lot of shots.”

It had all started so well for Mickelson, seeking to get some solace from a dismal championship.

On the first, with 205 yards to the pin, he hit a five-iron right through the wind which landed eight feet from the hole and ran obligingly in for an eagle two.

That was to be the highpoint for Mickelson, who was to finish bogey-par-double bogey-bogey for a round that pretty much summed up the state of his game.

“It’s frustrating for me not to not be in contention on the weekends of a major. That’s the toughest thing to take. But it is also good motivation for me to work harder.”

In the two months since Mickelson finished runner-up to Lucas Glover at the weather-hampered US Open at Bethpage Black in New York, his wife and mother have begun treatment and Mickelson’s sole outing was at Bridgestone last week, where he finished tied-58th. Here, he could do no better than 73rd.

Mickelson, though, is determined his game will come round sooner rather than later.

“I haven’t putted the best for a little while now, it’s going to take a little more than overnight for it to come right. But I at least feel like I have a little better direction . . . hopefully I’ll get it figured out over the next week.”

Although Mickelson’s schedule over the summer was severely curtailed so that he could spend time with his wife, Amy, his plan is to play considerably more golf in the coming weeks with the US Tour’s FedEx Cup on the horizon.

Mickelson has committed to play the first play-off tournament, the Barclays Championship at Liberty National in 10 days.

“I’ll see if I can get my game turned around by then,” said Mickelson.

And, yet, as if to emphasise that real life is bigger than golf, Mickelson’s welcome on the 18th green yesterday was as raucous as if he’d win the championship. It was as if the crowd wanted to let him know he wasn’t alone.