Phil Mickelson gives way to supporting actor Bill Haas in Riviera playoff (Yahoo! Sports)
A week before the Academy Awards, the PGA Tour’s Hollywood stop was set to give us its own Best Picture and Best Actor seven days early.
You could call Riviera’s flick: “From Pebble to Palisades: It’s Philly Mick’s World” or “The Tiger Slayer And More: Phil!” or “Lefty: One Man’s Route to Global Domination.”
Whatever the studio execs would want to call it, the story took L.A. and the golf world by storm for 72-plus holes at the golf course where Humphrey Bogart was once a member. And it was a “Here’s lookin’ at you, Lefty” moment when Mickelson drained a 26-footer from the fringe on 18 on Sunday afternoon to force a playoff with Bill Haas at the Northern Trust Open.
Fans at Riviera went bananas. It was “The Artist” at his finest. Forget “Moneyball”; it was “MoneyPhil.” One delirious fan even rolled down the slope by 18, pounding his fist deliriously into the kikiyu grass near the fringe of the putting green. Haas, alone on the range practicing for a possible playoff, must have felt like the neighbor next door listening to a raging house party.
So how did the guy most people wouldn’t even recognize as Best Supporting Actor trump the big star?
Put in terms of another Riviera member, it was time to channel Larry David and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” when Mickelson couldn’t match Haas’ birdie on the 10th hole, their second playoff hole.
Of note, there was a third actor in the drama, the promising young talent and major champion, Keegan Bradley. This kid is all guts, oozing intensity on the golf course and pouring in his own birdie putt on the 72nd hole to join Haas and Mickelson in the extra-time dance. But Bradley, too, failed to match Haas’ birdie on the 10th, meaning the least compelling player of the trio got the last line of the script.
Haas earned his fourth career “W,” a nice follow-up to his $11 million payday in last fall’s FedEx Cup playoffs. Haas is a delightful young man, and the Wake Forest product – a religious studies major, befitting his quiet manner – is the son of one of the earth’s nicest human beings, Jay Haas, so you can’t help but wish him well.
[Related: Terrific three-way playoff gives Riviera a major-championship feel]
It’s just that golf fans across America, still buzzing from Lefty’s Sunday 64 at Pebble, from his evisceration of Tiger Woods on the shores of Carmel Bay, were ready for an encore. Lefty is box-office gold, as good a guarantee as George Clooney. And a week after Pebble, star power was the order of the day again, as NBA legend and tournament director Jerry West watched Phil make his birdie on 18, smiling contentedly. The Logo liked The Lefty.
Couch potatoes everywhere surged to their feet when Mickelson birdied the last, while the roar at Riviera confirmed the West Coast Kid would own the West Coast Swing.
At least, that was the story that would make you buy popcorn.
Instead, at the iconic 10th hole, Phil went with 3-wood at the drivable par-4 and pulled his tee shot slightly, his golf ball resting in the menacing kikiyu. Haas went with his driver, surmising that long off the tee was the smarter play. It would mean Haas would have to pitch sideways to the green in two, then make a right-to-left 45-footer – which is exactly what he did.
Mickelson was left to try the floppiest of flop shots, to the tightest of pin locations. Even though the boys at CBS, clearly enjoying Mickelson’s ratings-friendly drama, were psyched for the moment – “This could be the shot of the year!” Nick Faldo exclaimed hopefully – Lefty didn’t have the goods. His effort rolled past the hole and into a back bunker, and when he couldn’t hole out for a birdie, and when Bradley missed his birdie putt from the fringe, the guy with the least star power in the playoff got the statuette.
Credit to Haas for his dry wit afterward, noting that while the ticket-buying public cheers for Mickelson, “Phil sounds a lot like Bill.” Nice touch, that.
The big picture is, Mickelson at age 41 appears intent on being a force. And the good news for his fans is that Lefty has more star turns to come, starting with Augusta National in April.
But on Sunday, Hollywood was left with one of those moments when the script didn’t write itself, when the critics would be left to wonder why the guy with top billing didn’t walk away with the statue at the end. Proof, indeed, that golf is its own being, and exerts its own energy, immune to the wants and wishes of those who long for happier endings.
73-65-65-66 – 19-under 269, Yani Tseng, winner, LPGA Thailand, Siam Country Club, Thailand.
Meanwhile, on the independent film circuit …
Yes, the LPGA struggles to get eyeballs in the States when it plays its events in Asia. But every smart business follows the money, and the market for women’s golf – along with its dominant players – is in Asia.
There is none more dominant than Yani (The Cherub-Faced Terminator) Tseng. She cuts the appearance of your friendly playing partner on a weekend, never goes over the top with intense demonstrations of emotion, and yet calmly and coolly dines on the tickers of her fellow competitors.
Take Sunday in Thailand, for example.
Tseng is coming off one of the great years in golf history, with 12 wins and two majors and a lock on the No. 1 spot in the world. She opened 2012 with a tie-8th at the Australian Open, and when she followed that with an opening-round 73 in Thailand on Thursday, one could imagine the calm exterior of Tseng barely masked a raging, five-alarm blaze of competitive fire.
So, naturally, she went 20-under the next 54 holes, capped by a birdie-birdie finish Sunday to hold off Ai Miyazato by a stroke, after starting the day one shot behind Miyazato for the lead.
In other words … boom!
To add to Tseng’s lore, she birdied her last hole in Thailand after seeing Miyazato hit her third shot into the par-5 18th tight. Knowing she had to answer, Tseng dialed a wedge from 104 to kick-in distance. Win numero uno of 2012 was in the books.
Interestingly, Tseng told reporters afterward that she felt an intense amount of pressure entering the year, given her dominant 2011. Admitting the demands of an encore weighed on her, she said the people closest to her are focused on keeping her relaxed.
Rocking a .500 win percentage two tournaments into the new year is apparently part of the plan.
“It’s such a shame … the three-to-four footer has just held him back so much.” – Jim Nantz, CBS, after watching Sergio Garcia three-putt at Riviera Country Club, missing a three-footer for par.
Perhaps it’s time we check in with Sergio Garcia, 32, no longer young enough to be called El Nino, and with too few wins in the last few years in the U.S. to be called a contender.
There have been rumblings that Garcia is ready for a renaissance. Twice last year he won on the European Tour, after posting oh-fers in 2009 and 2010 on both sides of the Atlantic. Not since the 2008 Players Championship has Garcia won in the U.S., 59 starts without a victory.
Some believe Garcia’s best days are over, that his career, while decorated with many moments of Ryder Cup glory, would be remembered on an individual level as perhaps the ultimate example of being eclipsed by Tiger Woods. No player symbolizes the epic mental domination Tiger held over a generation than Garcia, who was presumed to be Tiger’s rival after their showdown at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. Garcia was just 19, full of enthusiasm and brio, the new Seve to Tiger’s new Jack.
Instead, Garcia never summoned the moxie to stare down Tiger on the big stage. Rather, he wilted. And his best chance at a major championship – the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie – cruelly lipped out on the 72nd green, leading to Padraig Harrington’s playoff win.
It was that dastardly moment at Carnoustie that so symbolized Garcia’s near-misses – always, always, always inflicted on the putting greens, where he has never proven to be world class.
Now in his early 30s, with Tiger diminished and the landscape more open, perhaps this is Garcia’s time for a rebirth. The two European wins mean something, surely, and his work Sunday at Riviera – a day’s-best 64, including two eagles on his back nine – earned him a tie-4th, just two shots out of the playoff.
But Nantz’s words hang in the air. Garcia had two misses from short distance on Sunday, and while it’s difficult to ask a player to shoot 62, and preposterous to even think of criticizing a 64, the short putts remain a massive factor in determining Garcia’s future.
Maybe his 30s will be kinder to him. The golf world would reap the benefit if so.
Come on, this is easy.
Phil Mickelson had fans feeding from his palm when he made that 26-footer on the 72nd hole, ready to write his second consecutive epic week. Perhaps Lefty would even share top billing with the likes of Jeremy Lin, if Lin would be so kind to oblige?
And on the 10th hole – that delicious, intriguing, drivable, vexing par-4 – Mickelson pulled 3-wood, and it was not the right club for him. His tee shot, short and right, landed him in kikikyu death. To make birdie from there would be impossible.
So let’s go back to that 10th tee, let Lefty reclaim his gunslinger soul, pull a driver, have him go for it and … give that man a mulligan!
It is with mixed emotions that we welcome the arrival of the Accenture Match Play in the Arizona desert.
On one hand, match play can be the ultimate thrill ride in golf: wild swings of momentum, unpredictable twists and turns and exhibitions of golf courage – and its opposite – on stark display.
On the other hand, the realities of match play mean that too often, over the capricious nature of 18 (or fewer) holes, big names tumble. While that can make for a briefly exciting turn of events, within moments there isn’t a No. 1 seed in sight, and David Toms is shaking hands with Chris DiMarco on the tee box, or Americans are searching for their remotes as an all British matchup of Ian Poulter and Paul Casey fills our Sunday morning.
Can we dream about Phil vs. Tiger in the finals? Please. Lefty isn’t even playing, taking vacation with his kids home from school this week.
Maybe the golf gods will smile, and a Rory McIlroy-Tiger final will emerge, or a Dustin Johnson-Sergio, for a lesser but still viable thrill. Be forewarned, however, a Simon Dyson-Bo Van Pelt final could be rocking your big-screen on Sunday.
The vagaries of match play, amigos!
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Mickelson takes wild ride into share of the lead (AP)
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Phil Mickelson hit one tree, threaded a shot through five
trees and hit a drive that wound up in a spectator’s shorts. He somehow managed
a 1-under 70 on Saturday to share the lead with PGA champion Keegan Bradley in
the Northern Trust Open.
Bradley, inspired by a Riviera course that is one of his favorites, took
only five putts over the final five holes, including a 10-footer for par on the
last hole, for a 5-under 66 that assured him being in the final group.
The par was meaningful because he wanted to play Sunday with Mickelson, a
mentor to him.
There’s no telling what to expect in the final round. The phrase “routine
par” was not part of Mickelson’s vocabulary on a beautiful afternoon off Sunset
Boulevard.
Mickelson played one chip well past the hole on the par-3 sixth so it would
roll off the bank some 25 feet behind the cup and roll back. He made a 12-footer
for his par.
The only disappointment was not taking advantage of enough birdie chances,
twice missing birdie putts inside 8 feet and failing to give himself a good look
on the par-5 17th when his wedge rolled off the front of the green.
Mickelson and Bradley were at 7-under 206, though this is hardly a two-man
race at Riviera.
A dozen players were within four shots of the lead going into the final
round, including defending champion Aaron Baddeley (66), Dustin Johnson (67) and
FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas (68).
Johnson was tied for the lead until he botched the end of his round. He made
bogey from the bunker on the 16th, then three-putted for bogey from just outside
3 feet on the 17th. He finished with a birdie and a small measure of redemption.
“I’m going to come out tomorrow and give it everything I’ve got,” Johnson
said.
Pat Perez still has a shot, too. He three-putted from 10 feet for bogey on
the third hole, then took four putts on the next hole. His long birdie try from
60 feet on the fringe came up 5 feet short, and Perez took three more putts from
there.
But he kept his patience, made a few birdies and shot 70. Perez was in the
group one shot out of the lead along with Jonathan Byrd, who had a 69, and Bryce
Molder, who one-putted his last eight greens for a 66.
Bradley surged into a share of the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 16th,
and a pitch to tap-in range on the next hole. From the right rough, he came up
short of the 18th and chipped to 10 feet to set up the important closing par.
“That’s kind of why I was excited to make that putt on the last hole. I
figured that might be to get in the final group with Phil,” he said.
Bradley always has looked up to Mickelson, and the four-time major champion
invited him to play in one of his money games at The Players Championship. The
idea is for young players to learn to play under pressure, and it paid off for
Bradley when he captured the PGA Championship at the end of the year.
They have played together in a tournament only once, the opening two rounds
of The Barclays.
“Nothing like this would be,” Bradley said.
There was a stretch where Mickelson lived up to his “Phil the Thrill”
reputation at Riviera.
He pulled his tee shot so far right on the par-3 sixth that it was headed
for the ivy-covered fence until clipping a tree and dropping down. Then, instead
of hitting a lofted chip that could run to the pin, he chose to chip some 25
feet past the hole, have it run up the bank and come down. It rolled 12 feet
past the hole, and he made it for a par.
On the par-4 eighth, which gives players the option of two fairways,
Mickelson found his own route. He blasted a tee shot so far left it went over a
white fence and landed at the base of the stairs of a corporate tent. After
getting a free drop, he threaded a 9-iron through five eucalyptus trees to 12
feet.
It would have been one of the more amazing birdies in his career, except he
missed the putt.
He was introduced to a Bottle Brush on the 10th. That was the name of the
tree between the pin and where his tee shot landed. Mickelson caught a tiny
branch and didn’t reach the green, but hit a skillful pitch to 3 feet for par.
And on the 15th, Mickelson blocked a tee shot into the gallery and
discovered a man lying on his back, fearful of moving. The ball landed inside
the hem of his shorts, and he remained still until Mickelson could remove the
ball and take his free drop. He managed another par.
Haas birdied two of his last three holes and was in the group at 5-under
208, along with Johnson and Baddeley.
“I’m in a good position for tomorrow,” Haas said. “I don’t know what the
leaders are going to do, but I’ll be in striking distance.”
Tour Report: Mickelson rides momentum Thursday (PGATOUR.com)
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — When Hunter Mahan was 11 or 12 years old, his dad would bring him to Riviera Country Club to watch what was then called the Nissan Open. He later worked the range as a volunteer while a student at USC.
“This was always the best field in golf, so this was always a great place to come out here and watch a lot of great players from pretty much all over the world to come and play,” Mahan said. “This was always a great spot.”
Imagine, then, the new memories Mahan could make if he continues to play as well as he did on a windy Thursday at Riviera in the first round of the PGA TOUR event that is now known as the Northern Trust Open.
Mahan turned an OK round into something special with a string of four straight birdies that brought him home with a 67 that was one stroke off the lead held by Phil Mickelson. Mahan is tied with J.B. Holmes, who also played in the afternoon, as did Mickelson, on a day when the average score on the par-71 layout was 73.466.
“Obviously when we woke up this morning, the wind was humming pretty good,” Mahan said. “The course is in perfect shape right now. The greens are rolling very true. They’re not too fast because if they were it would be pretty difficult to play with the wind. … Probably the last seven holes the wind started to die down progressively, and by the end, it couldn’t be playing any nicer or any better. So I was excited to come make some birdies late.
“I hit it good all day, just a couple loose swings, but other than that, it was very solid from tee to green, and put myself in good position all day to kind of make putts.”
Mahan had played 13 holes and was even par when the birdie barrage began in calmer conditions he called “about as good a weather as we’re ever going to see.” He’d had four birdies up until that point, but also made two bogeys and a double bogey at the 18th as he made the turn.
Mahan wasn’t discouraged, though, and all of a sudden, the putts started falling — from 34, 21, 4 and 12 feet. He was tied with Mickelson when the last putt dropped but the big lefthander chipped in for a final birdie to seize sole possession of the lead.
“I felt like I was close to getting a string going,” Mahan said. “The course is in great shape and the greens are holding just enough to where you can hit it close. The pins were pretty accessible for the last few holes.”
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — J.B. Holmes knew he was playing better than his scores indicated.
Particularly that disappointing 80 he shot last Saturday in the third round at Spyglass Hill last week on the way to a missed cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
“It was just kind of one of those weeks where a couple bad things happened and I didn’t putt as well,” Holmes said simply. “All of a sudden I put up a pretty big number out there.”
Not so on a blustery Thursday during the first round of the Northern Trust Open, though.
Holmes’ score finally reflected the way he felt he’d been hitting the ball when he fired a 68 that left him one shot off the lead held by Phil Mickelson. The big-hitter from Kentucky. who set the tone for the day when he birdied his first three holes, was tied with Hunter Mahan.
“I really felt pretty good this week practicing and coming up to this golf course,” Holmes said. “I really enjoy playing here. I like the layout of this golf course. I felt like I could shoot a pretty good score today.”
Holmes, who started on the back nine, made the turn in 32 and then hung tough during an adventurous homeward stretch. He birdied the first hole, parred Nos. 3 and 4 and then went bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-double bogey-birdie over his final six holes played in the day’s most gentle breezes.
“It was blowing really hard all day,” Holmes said. “You really had to be real precise with your lines, especially striking your irons going in. You had to make sure you flushed it because the wind would definitely move it around quite a bit. I started off great, and then it died down a little bit at the end, and actually when it got a little bit easier I made a few mistakes. My record was a little bit better when the wind was blowing real hard.
“Overall it was a really good day for me. It was really difficult. We got about four holes where the wind wasn’t blowing. It was whipping most of the day on us.
Holmes is playing in just his fourth tournament since undergoing brain surgery last September to repair a Chiari malformation at the base of his skull. He’s not quite 100 percent but h says he’s seen improvement every week.
Holmes has a good track record at Riviera, too — sharing the first round lead a year ago on the way to a tie for 12th and finishing seventh or better the three previous years.
“It’s nice to get back out here and start hitting some shots like I used to, so it’s nice to put a good competitive round in on tough conditions,” Holmes said. “It’s just nice to be back out here, and it’s always encouraging when you can play good starting off on the first round.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — A blustery day didn’t blow Phil Mickelson off course, not with the affable lefthander riding the momentum of Sunday’s come-from-behind victory on the Monterey Peninsula.
Mickelson, who fired a flawless 64 on Sunday to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, is back at the top of another leaderboard after the first round of the Northern Trust Open.
Mickelson claimed sole possession of the lead when he chipped in from 35 feet for a sixth and final birdie at the 18th hole as shadows settled over Riviera. His 66 was one better than J.B. Holmes and Hunter Mahan while Jonathan Byrd and Carl Pettersson are another stroke behind.
“It feels really good to get that one extra shot because I felt like I left one or two out on 16, 17, and you hate to have such a good round and let a few slide late,” said Mickelson, who is commuting to San Diego this week and beat a hasty retreat to the Santa Monica airport after his round.
“To make that shot unexpectedly on 18 felt like I got one of those back.”
Play was suspended by darkness at 8:42 p.m. ET after the gusty weather had scores soaring and rounds inching towards the five-hour mark. Tee times in the afternoon, in fact, were delayed 26 minutes on the front nine and 11 on the back.
Tournament officials made the unusual decision to send the afternoon groups out without standard bearers since the wind was gusting to 35 mph. The scoring average when play was suspended with 30 players left on the course was 73.466 – more than two strokes above par 71.
Only 23 players were in red numbers when the horn sounded. The first round will resume at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET) and the second round will begin as scheduled.
“It was a challenging day today because Riviera doesn’t give you great opportunities to run balls onto the green,” Mickelson said. “That kikuyu grabs it so you really have to fly it on. Fortunately the greens were somewhat receptive, and that’s why I think the scores weren’t extremely high. A lot of them were right around par.
“You could keep the ball underneath the wind, underneath the tree line and still get it to stop somewhat on the greens because they were receptive. So I thought that even though the wind was challenging, it was still a fair test.”
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – The first round of the Northern Trust Open has been suspended by darkness.
Play will resume at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET) and the second round will begin as scheduled.
A total of 30 players were stranded on the course. Everyone had finished at least 12 holes when the horn sounded at 5:42 p.m. PT (8:42 p.m. ET).
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Hunter Mahan has reeled off four straight birdies to pull into a tie for the lead.
Mahan’s birdie putts started on the fifth hole, his 13th of the day, and came from 34, 21, 4 and 12 feet. He’s now tied with Phil Mickelson, who has two holes remaining, and J.B. Holmes, who bounced back from a double bogey to birdie the ninth for a 67.
Mahan, who started on the back nine, has had an equally adventurous round. He birdied his first two holes but ended up making the turn in even par after another birdie, a bogey and a double bogey on No. 18.
He was even par when the streak started on the front nine, too, after making birdie on No. 1 and a bogey on the fourth.
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – J.B. Holmes has had a roller-coaster ride on his second nine at Riviera on Thursday.
He was cruising along at 5 under before he made consecutive bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5. Holmes bounced back well, though, tapping in from 19 inches at the sixth hole and making another birdie from 17 feet at the next to get back into a tie with Phil Mickelson.
Holmes gave both those shots back, though, when he made double bogey at No. 8. He found the left rough off the tee and was short of the green in two, then chipped on a three-putted from 58 feet.
So Mickelson, who made three birdies in his first four holes after he made the turn, is now alone in first at 4 under. He has just bogeyed the par-3 16th, putting his tee shot just over the green and eventually missing a 7-footer to save par.
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Phil Mickelson came to Riviera this week bidding for a second straight victory after Sunday’s phenomenal 64 lifted him to his fourth AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title.
Consecutive wins aren’t unprecedented for the affable lefthander, either. He’s accomplished the feat three times (2006 BellSouth Classic and Masters, 2005 FBR Open and AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and 1996 Nortel Open and Phoenix Open).
The last time a player won in consecutive starts on TOUR was Jonathan Byrd (2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions). The last player to win in consecutive weeks, though, was Tiger Woods at the 2009 Buick Open and Bridgestone Invitational.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Luke Donald, who led the PGA TOUR in strokes gained putting last year, didn’t have his best day on the greens during the first round of the Northern Trust Open.
Even so, the world No. 1 played well enough to post a 70 that left Donald firmly in the hunt at a tournament where he’s finished sixth or better three of the last four years.
“These greens are tricky,” Donald said after taking 30 putts. “If you can putt well around here, it’s going to help. … I practice in south Florida on pretty perfect, smooth Bermuda greens; to come here and play on poa annua, it’s a big adjustment.
“And with them being quicker today with the wind, that was the toughest part for me.”
Donald started relative quietly on the back nine in his 2012 PGA TOUR debut, reeling off four straight pars before making bogey at No. 13. Donald got that stroke back at the next par 3, though, rolling in a 14-footer for birdie, and later two-putting from 36 feet at the par-5 first hole to get into red numbers.
“This morning it was freezing, blowing a gale, and it was not easy,” Donald said. “This course is tough with benign conditions, so with the added wind and the greens, they’re fast. They seemed a little bit faster than usual. Eleven-and-a-half to 12 on the Stimpmeter usually makes it really tough out there.”
Otherwise, Donald was pretty pleased with the way he was hitting the ball overall. He found 8 of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation while playing just his fifth competitive round of the year — and first in the United States.
“I’m excited about my ball striking, the way I’m controlling the flight,” Donald said. “I’m moving it both ways, feel like I’m driving the ball pretty solidly, happy with the work that I’ve done in the off season, seems to be paying off. So far, so good. Yeah, just a little bit of tidying up here and there, but feels very good.”
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Phil Mickelson just made a 14-footer for birdie at the drivable 10th hole to pull within two strokes of the lead held by J.B. Holmes.
Mickelson, who closed with a brilliant 64 on Sunday to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, has yet to make a bogey on Thursday. The two-time Northern Trust Open champ two-putted from 18 feet for an opening birdie at No. 1 and made a 28-footer at the fourth hole for his other birdies.
Minutes before Mickelson birdied the 10th, Holmes, who started on the back nine, rolled in a 15-footer at No. 1 to move to 5 under. Holmes, who has played 11 holes, held a share of the first-round lead at Riviera a year ago.
Also at 3 under is Jonathan Byrd, who polished off a 68 in the morning wave.
Carl Pettersson just bogeyed the ninth hole after missing the green to the left to drop back to 2 under. The Swede is tied with K.J. Choi and Brendan Steele, who are in the clubhouse with 69s, as well as Tommy Gainey and Sergio Garcia (who are through 11 holes on opposite nines) and Rory Sabbatini, who has played eight.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Jonathan Byrd rented a house this week that sits atop one of the many scenic bluffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean near Riviera Country Club.
The wind was “howling” when he got up Thursday morning and walked outside to catch a breath of fresh air. Byrd knew the gusty conditions did not bode well for the first round of the Northern Trust Open.
“I was pretty anxious about playing this golf course today,” acknowledged Byrd, who teed off at 7:27 a.m. local time.
While the conditions were by no means easy, though — the scoring average Thursday morning was more than two strokes above par at 73.76 — Byrd was able to get home in red numbers. His round of 3 under included five birdies, three on an unblemished front nine, and just two bogeys.
Byrd said much of the course was playing downwind, which is unusual at Riviera. With the exception of Nos. 7, 8, 9, 17 and 18 – “the holes you’d got to kind of hold on,” he said — the South Carolinian was able to play more aggressively than he had expected when he ventured out of the house in the wee hours of the morning.
“My approach to the golf course today was just to kind of keep it in play and kind of have a pretty conservative game plan,” Byrd said. “But once we got out there the greens were a little softer than I thought they’d be, and I just hit a lot of good iron shots. I kept it in play off the tee. Two bogeys, one three putt, and then a bogey on 18, which is kind of understandable. I played real sharp.’
Byrd’s round got off to a good start when he two-putted from 19 feet at No. 1 for his first birdie. He made a 5-footer at the third hole and lipped out an 8-iron at No. 7 for a tap-in birdie that he deemed his best of the day.
Byrd made his first bogey of the day at the 11th hole, but got to 4 under with consecutive birdies at Nos. 16 and 17. He hooked it into the rough off the 18th tee and was unable to reach the green on the way to a closing bogey “but that’s a tough hole no matter what,” Byrd said.
According to Byrd, discerning the direction of the wind wasn’t that much of a challenge on Thursday. But the downwind holes made club selection difficult since it’s not the predominant wind.
“It was hard to stop it on some of the holes, a hole like No. 12, and then when you get that much downwind it will knock it down some of the time,” he explained. “Some of those shots are actually more difficult than the into the wind holes.”
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — When Hunter Mahan was 11 or 12 years old, his dad would bring him to Riviera Country Club to watch what was then called the Nissan Open. He later worked the range as a volunteer while a student at USC. “This was always the best field in […]
Tour Report: Mickelson has sense of deja vu (PGATOUR.com)
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The PGA TOUR’s ShotLink guru Alex Turbull came up with some interesting stats on Spencer Levin. Consider these tidbits:
* No one has more rounds in the 60s since the start of the 2010 season than Levin. Yesterday’s 68 was his 111th round in the 60s over this time frame.
* No one has been better with their irons this week than Levin. Through three rounds, he’s missed just 10 greens to lead the field in GIR (81.5 percent). This is a large improvement over his 2012 season average of 67.6 percent (T-109th on TOUR).
* Of the 10 greens he’s missed this week, he’s successfully salvaged par or better eight times (80 percent) to rank tied for third in scrambling. On the greens, Levin currently ranks 11th for putts gained, out performing the field by +4.5 strokes with his putter.
* He’s dominated on the par 3s this week at TPC Scottsdale. Through three rounds, Levin has made birdies on six of the 12 par 3s – which also leads the field.
* He’s nearly blemish-free this week — making just two bogeys through 54 holes (fewest over par holes in the field this week). This is impressive considering that the average player has 8.34 bogeys or worse this week through three rounds.
* He’s yet to shoot an under par final round in 2012. In his first three starts of the season, Levin has final rounds of 72, 73, 72 ranking T-110th on TOUR for final round stroke average
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — If Spencer Levin thought Sunday would be an extended victory march, Ben Crane is showing him otherwise.
Crane, who delighted the crowd at No. 16 in the third round when he donned his trademark helmet and rapped with his buddy Bubba Watson, has put his considerable golf skills on display on Sunday.
Crane, who started the day at 9 under and trailing by eight, has just narrowed the gap to four. He’s played his first four holes in 4 under with birdie putts of 12 and 8 feet and a 33-footer for eagle at the second hole.
Crane is no stranger to coming from behind to win on Sunday. He made up five strokes back in the final round to claim his last victory at the 2011 McGladrey Classic.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open got under way as scheduled on Sunday and the final group of Spencer Levin, Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson has just teed off.
Now, for the burning question of the day: Will Keegan Bradley put on his New England Patriots jersey when he gets to the 16th hole?
More importantly, though, for Spencer Levin, we’ll be watching to see if the 27-year-old Californian can win his first PGA TOUR event.
Levin is 17 under and takes a six-stroke lead in to the final round. It’s the largest advantage since Rory McIlroy built an eight-shot cushion through three rounds at Congressional Country Club and went on to win the U.S. Open.
Webb Simpson, a two-time winner in 2011, is back where he left off, contending again, alone in second at 11 under. Simpson is looking for his eighth top-10 finish dating back to his breakthrough win last year at the Wyndham Championship — he’s got two wins, a playoff loss and a third place finish during that stretch.
Bubba Watson, who lives in Scottsdale, is 10 under and tied with PGA TOUR rookie John Huh. Huh is looking for his second straight top-10 finish.
A glance at the leaderboard shows there are some birdies out there on TPC Scottsdale Sunday, too. Jarrod Lyle, who was the final alternate to make the field on Tuesday, has birdied four of his first five holes and moved to 9 under for the tournament.
Tour Report: Interview: Phil Mickelson (PGATOUR.com)
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM
Phil Mickelson hasn’t exactly gotten his 2012 season off to a fast start with a tie for 49th and a missed cut at last week’s Framers Insurance Open, a hometown event for the San Diego, Calif.-native who said he’s willing to re-design Torrey Pines’ North Course — for free.
In his Wednesday press conference at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson expanded on that, and more. The highlights:
On where, at age 41, and on his way to World Golf Hall of Fame with 39 PGA TOUR wins, including four majors, Mickelson gets his motivation at this point in his career: “I love to compete. I’m excited about this year. I’m ready to play. I don’t know what happened last week,” he said. “My practice sessions have been really good. Bringing it from the practice session and bringing it out on the golf course, that’s my challenge right now. My putting feels terrific. I felt it was the last physical part of my game that needed some work, and it feels great.”
On his proposal to redesign Torrey Pines North: “It has been a dream of mine to turn that golf course into what I know it can be,” Mickelson said. “The first goal is to make it playable. It’s got to be playable for everybody. It’s a daily golf course, municipal golf course. Everybody has got to go out and enjoy it. The other thing is that the character is not being brought out right. The character of the canyons and the beauty of that place has not been pulled into the golf course. It’s been separated. The canyons are on one of the side of the golf course and then there’s been no integration.”
On what changes Mickelson will make: “The character that we bring out will try to enhance the natural beauty that’s already there,” he said. “Kind of a rough canyon look, if you will, where I’m going to make the hard holes harder, but I’m going to make the easy holes easier. I want guys having fun on some of these holes. The second hole is going to be moved up. We pretty much have it mapped out how we want to make it. I know the guys are going to love it because it’s going to be playing well. That’s the first goal.”
On who he thinks will win Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New York Giants and New England Patriots: “Not sure yet,” MIckelson said. “That’s an interesting game. You look at it and you think, gosh, the Patriots look like a better team, but the Giants seem to beat them all the time.”
Stanley, Mickelson eager to play at Phoenix Open (AP)
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (AP)—Kyle Stanley and Phil Mickelson look forward to fresh
starts Thursday in the Phoenix Open. Mark Wilson will want to savor some
pleasant memories on his return to the Valley of the Sun.
Stanley was eager to get back on the course after a devastating loss at
Torrey Pines on Sunday when he had a triple-bogey 8 on the final hole of
regulation and ended up losing to Brandt Snedeker in a playoff.
“That’s the beauty of it,” Stanley said. “I think we’ve got to remember
that the year has just started, so I have probably 27 or 28 events ahead of me,
and the process doesn’t change, the mindset doesn’t change. I’m playing great
golf right now.
“I’m just trying to focus on the positive things I did last week. I mean, I
played some really good golf.”
Mickelson missed the cut at Torrey Pines, shooting 77-68 in his hometown
event a week after opening the season with a tie for 49th in the Humana
Challenge. He won at TPC Scottsdale in 1996 and 2005.
“I don’t know what happened last week,” Mickelson said after his pro-am
round with former NFL star Emmitt Smith. “I’m going to put it as something I’m
going to shrug off because I know that my practice sessions have been really
good.
“I was able to take it a little bit better to the course today. I hit a lot
of good shots today, and bringing it from the practice session and bringing it
out on the golf course, that’s my challenge right now.”
Snedeker is trying to look ahead, too.
“The great thing about the PGA Tour and golf is as great as last week was,
come Thursday morning it’s not going to matter a bit,” Snedeker said. “It’s a
new golf tournament, a new course, and I’ve got to get my mind ready to play,
and I feel like my game is really good, so I’m excited about teeing off tomorrow
morning.”
Wilson, the Humana Challenge winner in his last start, won last year in a
Monday finish, beating Jason Dufner on the second extra hole in the
frost-delayed event.
“Last week was the first time I’ve ever had a week off after a win,”
Wilson said. “So, I was able to soak it up and enjoy answering all the emails I
got from friends and family and enjoy time with the family and just sort of ease
into this week. It was a welcome thing to do there, to have a week off.”
The 37-year-old Wisconsin native, one of the tour’s shortest hitters, is
done tinkering with his game.
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel every week like I was when I was
30,” the five-time tour winner said. “I don’t do that anymore. I just do the
same things over and over again.”
Wilson and Snedeker will play the first two rounds with Sony Open winner
Johnson Wagner. Mickelson will play alongside ninth-ranked Dustin Johnson and
Rickie Fowler.
Sixth-ranked Webb Simpson also is in the field along with FedEx Cup champion
Bill Haas, PGA winner Keegan Bradley, Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar and
two-time winners J.B. Holmes and Vijay Singh. Simpson and Johnson are the only
players in the top 10 in the world ranking in the field.
Holmes is making his second start since having brain surgery in September.
The 2006 and 2008 Phoenix winner had structural defects in the cerebellum, the
part of the brain that controls balance. He missed the cut at Torrey Pines,
shooting 76-69.
“It was great to just get back at it last week. Hopefully, I can improve on
that,” Holmes said. “I didn’t play that great, but it was just nice to get
back out there and get back in the swing of things.”
DIVOTS: Watson turned heads Wednesday when he pulled into the players’
parking lot behind the wheel of the first “General Lee” from the “The Dukes
of Hazzard” TV show. Watson paid $121,000—including fees—for the 1969 Dodge
Charger at Barrett-Jackson’s recent Scottsdale auction. “Lee 01” jumped over a
police car in the series’ first episode. … Fred Couples, in the field on a
sponsor exemption, withdrew Wednesday because of illness. He was replaced by Ken
Duke. … Nick Watney withdrew Tuesday, also because of illness. He was replaced
by Jarrod Lyle. … Three-time winner Mark Calcavecchia, rookie Harris English
and former Arizona State players Jeff Quinney and Matt Jones also received
sponsor exemptions. … Hunter Mahan, the 2010 winner, is skipping the
tournament to play in the Qatar Masters.
Stanley leads at Torrey as Mickelson heads home (AP)
SAN DIEGO (AP)—Phil Mickelson doesn’t lack faith in his game. He just
doesn’t have an explanation for a shoddy start to his season.
One week after he had to rally to make the cut in his 2012 debut at the
Humana Challenge, he didn’t come close to making the cut at Torrey Pines,
getting the weekend off at his hometown event for the first time in 10 years.
“I’ve got to let it go and move on,” Mickelson said.
The Farmers Insurance Open goes forward Saturday with Kyle Stanley, a
24-year-old with the skills of a rising star, making seven birdies on the South
Course to overcome a double bogey for a 4-under 68. That gave him a 130 total
and a one-shot lead over Brandt Snedeker, who had a 64 on the easier North
Course and is making a habit of getting into contention at Torrey Pines.
Mickelson, meanwhile, headed home to nearby Rancho Santa Fe to do a little
work and get ready for the Phoenix Open next week.
What’s the problem? He’s not sure.
On paper, it was the 11 bunkers he found on the South Course that led to an
opening 77 and forced him to go low on the North just to make it to the weekend.
Mickelson needed to make a move when he made the turn and headed to the front
nine, which starts with three birdie holes. He played them in even par, and his
lot was effectively cast.
“I don’t feel like there’s any one area that I feel about my game,”
Mickelson said. “It’s just that I’m not bringing it from the practice session
onto the golf course yet. I’m not sure why that is. But the good news is in my
practice sessions, it’s been great in every area.
“The scores look like I’m way off,” he said. “But it doesn’t look far
off.”
The flip side of that would be Snedeker.
After the Asia Pacific Classic the last week of October, Snedeker flew home
Malaysia and had surgery on his hip. He was on crutches for most of the
offseason, returned to practice and came back out earlier than he expected at
the Humana Challenge, where he went into the final round with a chance to win
and settled for a tie for eighth.
One week later, he’s in the final group going into the weekend.
“I’m certainly surprised that I played this well this fast,” Snedeker
said. “Normally, it takes me a while to get the rust off. But my practice at
home went really, really well. I was actually chomping at the bit to get out
here because I knew I was playing well.
“Hopefully, that can happen through the weekend.”
Sang-Moon Bae, a PGA Tour rookie who is No. 34 in the world, had a 67 to
match the best score on the South for the second round. That put him two shots
behind at 12-under 132, along with Martin Flores, who also had a 67 on the
South.
Hunter Mahan shot 65 on the North, while FedEx Cup champion Bill Haas had a
71 on the South. They were three shots behind.
The cut came at 2-under 142, and there will be another cut Saturday because
more than 78 players are still around. That group includes Geoff Ogilvy, who
birdied his last hole on the North for a 70, and Ernie Els, who was at 3-under
141.
Stanley goes about his work quietly. He prefers boring golf of fairways and
greens, though there was a little too much excitement when his 7-iron from the
rough jumped on his and went over the green, down the slope and into the hazard.
He chipped to 5 feet and missed the putt, taking double bogey, effectively
wiping out the two birdies he had made.
He followed that with a bogey from the bunker on the par-3 16th.
“I got off to a good start, and it was tough to take,” Stanley said. “But
you’ve just got to be patient out here.”
That he was. He had birdie putts on the last 11 holes he played and birdied
all the par 5s. As a testament to his length, he hit his tee shot 346 yards on
the par-5 ninth, and hit 2-iron from 270 yards.
“Not a very good one,” he said, though it left him an up-and-down from the
bunker for one last birdie.
Mickelson had said at the start of the week that he expected to win early
during the West Coast swing, which he based on how well he was playing casual
rounds and how well he felt during practice. For most of the offseason, he spent
up to three hours a day on the green he built in his backyard, going back to his
blade putter, trying to get feel back in his hands.
“The exciting thing for me is the last two years, I have not felt good on
the greens, and I feel better than I have in years,” he said. “I’m making a
lot more putts than I’ve made in years. Each round I’m making extra putts that I
haven’t been making.”
It’s just not adding up, and Mickelson was more than a little wistful when
he gazed at the blue sky and talked about a perfect weekend of weather on a
public course along the Pacific bluffs, one of his favorite places to be this
time of the year.
“I’d love to be playing,” he said. “But I don’t have that opportunity.”
Instead, he walked off toward the gallery and stood in place for some 20
minutes to sign autographs.
“Last one,” he said, and as a dozen or so people groaned, Mickelson added,
“I just wanted to be sure I took care of the kids.” Just like that, two
youngsters came to the front of the wooden railing, and Lefty smiled and kept
signing.
What to expect next week in Phoenix?
“I won’t know until Thursday,” he said.
Time is running out for Phil Mickelson (Yahoo! Sports)
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson is on the clock. In June, he will turn 42 years old. That’s getting up there in golf. Men who reach that age, with the exception of Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker, and the great Sam Snead decades ago, do not win a lot of golf tournaments. Things happen. The body breaks down. The mind wanders. It’s called growing old.
Which is why this season is so critical for Mickelson. He’s got a legacy to craft, and he can’t do it the way he has played the last two years, with two victories in 41 starts. He needs more wins, especially majors. Four majors is nothing to belittle &ndash Fred Couples and Davis Love III, two tremendous talents, have only one apiece – but Mickelson should have close to double that amount by this point in his career. He’s that skilled. He gave a few away and he knows it.
Will this year be any different? Hard to say, of course, but if his season debut on Thursday in the first round of the Humana Challenge is any indication, Mickelson has a ways to go.
He recorded a two-over 74 at La Quinta Country Club on a sunny, windless day when 21 players shot 66 or lower at one of the tournament’s three courses, giving him no chance to make a run this week. You can come back from a 74 at Sawgrass or Augusta or at any of the demanding U.S. Open venues. You can’t come back from a 74 in this event, reduced from five to four rounds this year, where at least a dozen or so guys traditionally go low every day. Of the 144 players in the field, Mickelson beat only seven of them.
Most dispiriting of all were the drives on Nos. 10 and 14, both fading way left, both barely out of bounds, and both eerily similar to the most devastating error of his career, the tee shot on the final hole which cost him the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
The first was so close to the white stakes that it required a tour official, with help from Mickelson and playing partner David Toms, to attach a piece of white string between posts because the ball was nestled in a resident’s yard and needed to be totally on the inside side of the string. The effort took several minutes. Mickelson, with the gallery rooting him on, even directed the official to try it another way after the initial ruling went against him. It was to no avail. The ball was out by inches, resulting in a double bogey.
At No. 14, the tee shot was OB by a couple of feet, this time leading to a triple. One could see the life come out of Mickelson, who had seemed so animated the hole before when he, Toms and the two amateurs in the group were paid a visit by former President Bill Clinton, whose foundation is a partner with Humana in sponsoring the event.
Mickelson, in typical fashion, was not discouraged by his performance.
“Well, it’s only one round,” he said. “I’ve been playing so well that &hellip that I’m not going to let one round affect my outlook. It’s a long tournament, a long week, a long month, a long year, and one round is just getting started.”
Perhaps. And perhaps the work he did in the offseason with his mental coach, Julie Elion, who was in the gallery at La Quinta – enjoy the process, be patient, love the next shot, etc. – will pay off. And perhaps the confidence he feels in his putting stroke – “I feel I can make everything on the greens” – will prove prophetic. Certainly no one will be surprised.
At the same time, we have heard optimistic projections from Mickelson before. We have seen him experiment with new putters (even a belly putter late last year) and new drivers. Only his game didn’t take off – at least not reaching the high standards he has set for himself, and thus the ones he must be held to.
To be fair, of course, he’s had a lot more to worry about in the last couple of years than his golf game – specifically, the health of his wife, Amy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s a topic, though, that did not come up on Thursday. The Mickelson family, in fact, enjoyed some of their best trips ever during the offseason, such as a ski vacation in Montana.
“Kids made great strides in their skiing ability, and we all had a lot of fun,” he said.
Nobody, of course, believes Mickelson isn’t capable of making great strides of his own.
“Other than two shots, he played a good round,” Toms said. “He seems like he still has the fire to work.”
Fire might not be enough. The PGA Tour is filled with tons of promising talents who have more than a decade on him, along with Tiger Woods who showed signs late in 2011 that his game might be coming back. Putting another major on the Mickelson resume is far from automatic.
Time is definitely not on his side.
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Tour Report: No. 10: Mickelson wants flag tended (PGATOUR.com)
Beginning today through Dec. 15, PGATOUR.COM will unveil its list of the top 10 shots of 2011. We’ll roll out one shot a day, starting with today’s No. 10 – Phil Mickelson’s approach on the 18th hole at Torrey Pines when he had caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay tend the flag.
Check out the video and tell us what you think of the shot. If you were there to watch us, let us know what memories you have of the shot.
CLICK HERE FOR SHOT OF THE YEAR ARCHIVE/SCHEDULE
Golf-Johnson steering clear of Mickelson at Presidents Cup (Reuters)
By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Dustin Johnson had news
to cheer American golf fans on Tuesday—he and Phil Mickelson
will be kept well away from each other when team captain Fred
Couples works out the pairings for this week’s Presidents Cup.
Friends off the course, and possessing a similar style of
play, the two appeared set for a promising partnership at last
year’s Ryder Cup in Wales but crashed in both their matches as
the Americans went down 14 1/2 to 13 1/2.
Both finished a disappointing 1-3 for the tournament and
Johnson said he was keen to keep Mickelson in the cross-hairs
rather than in his pocket.
“Me and Phil will not be playing together this week,”
Johnson told reporters with a lopsided smile at Royal Melbourne
Golf Club.
“We do better playing against each other than with each
other. We are good buddies, we love playing each other. But as
far as—you know, some people, you just don’t—as Phil put
it, we didn’t have that good energy.
“We are very similar. Especially the way we play and stuff.
So we just didn’t quite mesh well.
“I think the biggest thing is you’ve got to have fun out
there … If you don’t necessarily have fun with the guy you are
playing with, then it’s just not going to be a good day.”
Four-times major winner Mickelson, a veteran of all nine
Presidents Cups, has rarely had fun on his overseas jaunts in
match-play, having never won a single match against the
Internationals away from North American soil.
The 41-year-old was winless from four matches during the
United States’ sole loss at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1998
and notched a woeful 5-0 losing record in the drawn 2003
tournament in South Africa.
FRIENDLY TIMEZONE
Royal Melbourne looms again this week as a big test for the
Americans and Mickelson who finished nine strokes behind winner
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano at the rain-shortened Singapore Open
on Sunday.
After the United States players were blamed for slack
preparations in the leadup to their 1998 loss, Couples demanded
his players get to a friendly timezone in the leadup to adjust,
and while that would help their cause, the Americans could not
be considered favourites, Mickelson said.
“Well, I think because most of the guys have come down here
already, travelled to Asia, parts of Asia, parts of Australia to
play and compete and get adjusted to the time as well as get
their game sharp, I do expect the U.S. Team to put on a good
challenge,” he told reporters.
“Certainly I would expect them to be the favourite because
of their home course knowledge, as well as the home course
support, but we are going to try to make a good run.”
Mickelson has rarely looked at history as a guide to future
form and was not keen to dwell on the 1998 result, despite the
lessons he might pass down to debutants Bubba Watson and Nick
Watney in the U.S. team.
With the team enjoying some sightseeing and a night out
gambling on Monday, Mickelson said keeping the atmosphere fun
remained paramount, echoing his laid-back captain’s mantra.
“If you play well you are going to play well whether it’s a
PGA Tour event or whether it’s the Presidents Cup or next year’s
Ryder Cup, what have you.
“We want everybody to feel comfortable and excited to be
here and enjoy their time, not only on the golf course but off
it, as well and we are having some fun times in the team room,
too.”
(Editing by Ossian Shine; To query or comment on this story
email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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