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St Andrews - Phil Mickelson's final-round surge at the British Open came to a halt when a wild tee shot at the 17th hole ended with his ball on the balcony of a room at the Old Course Hotel on Monday.
The American, who had picked up six shots and had closed to within two of the three leaders, sent his drive right, landing it on top of the hotel's conservatory before it bounced, rattled around like a pinball, and came to rest on the balcony.
Had it not been out of bounds, the 45-year-old American, known for his wizardry with the chipper, might have gone into the luxury hotel alongside the fairway to play his ball.
As it was, he had to take a new ball and ended up with a round-wrecking triple-bogey seven on the infamous par-four Road Hole, instantly halving the ground he had made up in easy scoring conditions.
Mickelson, who won the British Open in 2013, had been flying with six birdies on his card, including holing a 35-foot putt on the 15th green.
With rain starting to fall his mood was hardly helped when a 25-foot birdie attempt on the last hole lipped out, leaving him seven under and five off the pace with the leaders yet to start.
Irish amateur Paul Dunne, 2010 winner Louis Oosthuizen and Australian Jason Day are the three joint leaders.
