Phil Mickelson Buys Penthouse Timeshare

Phil Mickelson has not yet won the Claret Jug although the American now owns timeshares with a view over the Old Course at St Andrews.

Mickelson put down $3.4 million for nine weeks use annually of a penthouse at a private club and timeshare residence, a spokesman for the US golfer said Friday at Westchester Country Club, where he is competing at the Barclays Classic.

His rooms will look down upon the first and 18th holes of the Old Course. The six-storey building is currently a dormitory for the University of St Andrews and renovation work is expected to be completed in 2008.

The next British Open at St Andrews will be in 2010, the 28th time it is staged at the Scottish course.

The 35-year-old Mickelson has twice won the Masters, his second green jacket coming last April in Augusta, and took last year's US PGA Championship.

The closest he has come to lifting the famed jug awarded to winner of the British Open was in 2004 when he finished third.

There is nothing like a Scottish timeshare!