Confidence in the driver we all know sets up confidence and performance in other aspects of our game such as iron play and the short game.

Recently, Phil made an instructional video on the short game, and doing so has improved his short game, too. Kind of like when we get our old notes out from the driving range and actually read them to discover a few tips that worked magic for us in the past.

“Simplifying my techniques and to articulate and translate it so everybody can do it has forced me to simplify my own game; and consequently, I’ve never chipped or hit bunker shots as well.”

Being 13-under par the after two rounds, Lefty is looking around for some competition over the weekend in this World Golf Championship. Tiger Woods is 10 strokes back. There is no neck-to-neck battle at this point.

Mickelson’s verbal taunting would indicate he is looking for an interaction with Tiger to avenge a defeat in 2005. “It kind of sucks. I hope he comes out tomorrow and plays a great round and makes a move. I would love to get back from ’05. I came close in ’05 and got beat and I would love the opportunity to play head-to-head.”

The confident 35-time winner on tour including three majors is looking ahead to the Masters which is only four weeks away.

“I can’t be any more excited. As well as I’m driving it, to be hitting it as high and as far as I’m hitting it, with my short game being as good as it’s ever been, I can’t wait for Augusta to get here.”

Who is competing with Mickelson this week?

Nick Watney followed up a Thursday 66 with a Friday 67 to secure second place, alone, at 11-under. The 27-year-old golfer from Fresno State won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines earlier this year for his first tour victory.

“I feel pretty comfortable on this golf course and I’m playing very well and I’m putting well to start. So pleased with the first two rounds, and as far as tomorrow goes, very excited to play with Phil, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Watney credits the coach he shares with Mickelson and an improvement in his putting for his rise on tour this year.

“I would say the biggest difference would be putting, for sure. I hit the ball fairly well last year, but just my putting was really—really let my down. So I worked real hard in the offseason with my coach, Butch Harmon, and it’s really been paying off so far this year.”

He does a good job of, he sees—he has five students here. So he sees us all, and I don’t think anybody feels slighted or anything. Butch’s knowledge of the game is incredible.”

Can the lesser known guy in Butch’s camp knock off the marquee guy on the WGC-CA stage?

Maybe grizzled tour veteran, Ryder Cup hero, and winner of 13 tour events including the 2009 FBR Open Kenny Perry can put up a fight for Phil this weekend. He shot 64 on Friday by making better club selections on tee shots to suit the monster at Doral.

“Today I played shorter, shorter clubs off the tee just through the doglegs. I didn’t try to bomb it over to the corners like I did yesterday, and it paid off. I hit more fairways and had more opportunities at birdies.”

Perry is tied for third place, only three shots back with Northern Ireland’s up-and-coming golfing star Rory McIlroy who shot 66 Friday to go with Thursday’s 68. How fast has he risen in the world of golf? “Only eight months ago I was 200th in the world.”

Does he find it overwhelming? “No, it’s what I always wanted to do. I always expected to get to this point but I never thought I would do it so quickly.” At only 19 years of age this kid has game and could very well win this golf tournament come Sunday afternoon.

The threesome tied for fifth place only four shots back includes first round co-leader Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand), local favorite Camillo Villegas (Colombia), and veteran Rod Pampling (Australia).

Like so many American golfers of a bygone era, Prayad is the rags-to-riches story of the Asian Tour.

“I came from a poor family and so many members are in my family, so I had to work and make money for survival. I worked when I was young and worked many kind of work, like bicycle and like a taxi and selling food at a railway station. I was a caddie and a boxer.”

Marksaeng did what it took to find his passion and excel at it. Best of all he realizes the impact golf can have on one’s life. “I never thought that I would come up here this day. I thought I would only be able to play the Asian Tour, but now I can come up at this stage. Golf changed my life.”

Camillo is careful to not mix pleasure and popularity with business.

“I enjoy the support. It motivates me to stay focused, but at the same time, you’ve got to give yourself a little slap in the face and remind yourself that you’re there to play golf. But at the end of the day it’s business. You have to have your targets, commit to the shots and pull the trigger.”

Alvaro Quiros (Spain) also shot 64, the low round of the tournament, and heads a group of seven golfers five strokes back but still in contention with 36 holes to play: recent two-time winner Dustin Johnson; 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk; 2008 British Open runner-up Ian Poulter (England); the Swede who kept his clothes on Soren Kjeldsen; first round co-leader Jeev M. Singh (India); and South African newcomer Louis Oosthuizen.

The other first round co-leader Retief Goosen shot 76 falling into a tie for 35th with Tiger Woods.

Taunting a tiger may not be the wisest thing to do. This one is well-rested, improving, and will be pouncing soon. “Today felt a lot better than it did yesterday and yesterday felt a lot better than it did in Tucson. I’m starting to get a feel for being in that environment again, and it’s starting to feel better and better.”

Realistically can the six-time winner of this event come back over the weekend and win? “Hopefully tomorrow I can shoot a good round and at least give myself somewhat of a chance going into Sunday. I need to play well and I need to have help.”

Wouldn’t it be ironic if Phil’s taunting helped Tiger comeback?

It’s a little too early to call, but this may be one of the best WGC to go down in history. Tiger Woods isn’t even part of the script yet.

Well, it is only Thursday at Doral’s Blue Monster. The wind blew but in the easy direction with the signature 18th hole playing downwind. Tiger shot 1-under 71 and is tied for 40th in a field of 80 world-class golfers.

There was drama on Thursday though with a promise of much more to come. Three-time major champion Phil Mickelson, himself an emerging legend with 35 PGA Tour victories in a storied career since turning professional in 1992, put on a theatrical performance shooting a 7-under par 65 with only 20 putts.

Twice-baked U.S. Open Champion Retief Goosen (South Africa) brought out his favorite putter from the corner of his cold and dark garage to the warm Florida sunshine and it sizzled, too. He needed only 23 putts in his own version of 7-under 65.

Padraig Harrington (Ireland), the reigning showman of the world golf tour, though spraying his drives a bit, had his irons dialed in with laser accuracy with six birdies in his bogey-free round of 66.

Atop the leader board with Mickelson and Goosen are Jeev M. Singh (India) and Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand).

Jeev has won three times on the European Tour, but not yet in the United States. The 37-year-old golfer comes from a sporting family as his father was the director of sports for the state of Punjab in India.

Back when Jeev started playing golf and later when he turned professional in 1993 the emphasis was on education and becoming a doctor or engineer. Family and friends would say to him: “I know you’re a pro, but what else do you do?” Now golf is the fastest growing sport in India.

Singh credits Doug Sanders, a 20-time winner on the PGA Tour with getting him to the U.S. to play college golf at Abilene Christian University.

Sanders sponsored an international Junior Golf Championship for 20 years and called him from Abilene when he was playing in a tournament at Fairway Oaks in the middle of the night India time.

The result was a full golf scholarship for a kid from India at ACU, which is about 180 miles west of Dallas/Fort Worth and halfway to Midland, Texas. Now he is leading a World Golf Championship.

Prayad Marksaeng, playing in his first WGC-CA, started on No. 10 with a fairly routine first nine holes, with two birdies and then he bogeyed the most difficult hole of the day, No. 18.

Making the turn, he caught fire shooting 6-under 30 on the front side needing only 24 putts for the round. The 43-year-old golfer is a three-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour in 2008 but has yet to win in the United States.

Mickelson needed only eight putts on his back nine. He chipped in for birdies on his last two holes. He matched the third-least number of putts for nine holes in PGA Tour history. Stan Utley needed only six on the front nine in the second round of the 2002 Air Canada Championship.

On the front nine, Phil was in a water hazard on two consecutive holes. On No. 3, he double-bogeyed the hole after hitting into the drink short right of the green. After drowning his tee shot on the 238-yard par-3 fourth hole he chipped in to save par. Then after that, he was off to the races, finishing the round with eight birdies and no bogeys.

Phil, after winning at Riviera CC in the Northern Trust Open, three weeks ago appears to be back and confident as ever.

“I felt going into this tournament that I was playing as well as I ever have as far as I can remember. From 50 yards in, my short game has never been this good and I’ve never driven the ball this long and this straight without the fear of a big miss.”

He re-emphasized the state of his game by saying it again: “I’m telling you, I’ve never hit the ball this long or straight.”

Retief Goosen went to the belly putter at the start of the year and has changed back to the short C-groove YES putter he used to win the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Opens. “The last couple of years, I have not been putting well. That’s why I tried something new at the beginning of the year, and it didn’t work.”

After a second place tie in last year’s WGC-CA finishing one stroke behind champion Geoff Ogilvy Retief is excited with Thursday’s performance. “I’ve done well here in the past. Last year, obviously I had a good chance of maybe winning, but this year I’m off to a good start, and I’ve got something to build on for the next three rounds.”

Padraig Harrington, tied for second place with Nick Watney, Rod Pampling (Australia), and James Kingston (South Africa), changed his plans for a three-week break in the schedule opting to come back to America and play because his game needed it.

“I needed to play some competitive golf. Not having played enough so far, it would have been foolhardy to go into Bay Hill and Houston and then obviously the Masters without feeling like I’ve been on the golf course and being sharp.”

The Masters, the first major of the year, is on everyone’s mind and Harrington has been fielding questions since winning the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills CC back in August 2008.

“The last thing I want to be doing is trying to win the Masters in the second round at the CA Championship.”

Padraig is not getting ahead of himself but is thinking ahead to three big tournaments this year: “(The) Masters being potentially winning my third Major in a row, the (British) Open being my potential of winning three (British Opens) in a row and the PGA (Championship) defending (champion).”

The rest of us are thinking about that fourth chance at Bethpage in the U.S. Open in June. If he wins the Masters can he complete the “Tiger-Slam” and win that fourth major in a row?

Even Rod Pampling, a two-time winner on tour, most recently at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill tournament in 2006 and tied for second with a 66 of his own is thinking about the Masters and the most obvious omission with regards to that tournament.

“Obviously, you want to play all of the majors and it’s the only one an Australian has not won yet, and I enjoy that golf course. It would be nice to win Augusta. If you are not there, you can’t do it. So it’s obviously very important to get into the tournament.”

There was some comedy out there on the Blue Monster today. Henrik Stenson’s tee shot on No. 3 ended up in a hazard on mud bit in decent shape. Having no rain gear in the bag left him no other options.

“I was only wearing two things when I hit the shot, my jocks and my golf glove…that is the only thing that will appear in the picture aside from the golf club…just the way God created me!! Shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, hat, the lot was off!

His female caddy Fanny Sunesson who use to loop for Nick Faldo might have been secretly wishing to see a Full Monty. Stenson at least would be better than the other Monty…Colin Montgomerie. Postscript: Stenson shot a 3-under 69, so saving the shot may lead to victory on Sunday.

Jeev Singh and the other leaders had a good day out on the golf course. “I hit the ball well today and I think it all comes down to putting at the end of the day. I rolled it well, so I’m pretty pleased with a 65 today.”

Tiger Woods, on the other hand, had a different result from a good ball-striking day, full swing that is.

“It was a little bit frustrating on those greens today. I hit so many putts that looked good. I thought I hit my lines and thought I had the right speed, but they just didn’t go in.”

Though frustrated there is optimism for tomorrow’s second round: “I’ll just keep doing the same things. It’s not like I was playing poorly or struggling all the way around. I had my speed on the greens all day.”

There was simplicity in the final assessment for the day by Tiger: “I played well and just didn’t make the putts.”

It’s early, there’s a lot of drama and much more to come. Stay tuned!

 

 

Well, of course, that depends on which WGC we are talking about.

Two weeks ago at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships, the Top 64 golfers were eligible to compete as determined by the Official World Golf Rating (OWGR) as of February 15th, a week before the tournament started. No exceptions, either you make the Top 64 list at that appointed time or you do not play. If you make the list and choose to not play you are not replaced and your first round opponent automatically wins.

In August, at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone CC, it will be only the Top 50 golfers as determined by the OWGR. In addition, playing members of both teams from the 2007 President’s Cup and 2008 Ryder Cup are included in the field as well as tournament winners since the prior year’s tournament.

That is, tournament winners on the Asian Tour, the European Tour, the Japan Golf Tour, the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Australasia, and the Sunshine Tour (South Africa) were eligible. There is a caveat; however, that in order to be eligible the tournament winner must have an OWGR point total of 115 points or more. This is equivalent roughly to an OWGR of No. 75 today. No rift-raft or one-time Charlie’s in WGCs.

At this week’s WGC-CA Championship held on the Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Florida, the field is basically the world’s No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods and the other Top 50 golfers as determined by the OWGR. There are some important distinctions and additional qualifying criteria which make a huge difference to those golfers on the bubble.

In the end you are in or you are not. If you are into the $8M tournament with no cut, there is guaranteed money if you finish all four rounds. Last year that amounted to $35,500 for last place. So being in or not is a big deal.

One of the distinctions about the top 50 OWGR golfers is when you make that distinguished list. There are two opportunities: one week ago after the WGC-Accenture Match Play on Monday, March 2nd and this past Monday after the Honda Classic.

Boo Weekley was in the top 50 one week ago, last week he was not. One week ago Davis Love was not in the top 50, but with his joint 13th place finish at the Honda last week he moved up to No. 50. Both are playing at Doral starting today. Stuart Appleby also fell out of the Top 50, but is playing based on his 2008 No. 17 FedExCup points finish.

An additional qualifying criterion is this year’s FedExCup point list, the Top 10. Similar to the OWGR in that is takes two snapshots one week apart mainly to capture the best golfers either going up or down the list.

Making it into the WGC-CA on the latter list were Honda Champion Y.E. Yang (South Korea) and runner-up John Rollins. This year’s European Tour Order of Merit Top 10 also qualifies for this WGC. Since there was no European Tour tournament this past week there was no movement in or out of the Top 10 and all these golfers were ranked in the OWGR Top 50.

Oops typo there this year’s European Tour Order of Merit is called the Race to Dubai. Wonder if they use Fed Ex?

The other qualifying criteria were based on last year’s performance: namely the Top 30 in the 2008 FedExCup points list, the Top 20 European Order of Merit, and the Top three Order of Merit from each of the four other Federation Tours, which come together to conduct the WGCs-the Asian Tour, the Japan Golf Tour, the PGA Tour Australasia, and the Sunshine Tour (South Africa).

These golfers knew they were in the tournament for sure before last year before anybody else, although it is hard to drop out of the Top 50 OWGR especially if you are Tiger Woods. Easier if you are Boo Weekley.

Golfers who qualified only on their 2008 Top 30 FedExCup points are Briny Baird, Chad Campbell, Ken Duke, Dudley Hart, Ryuji Imada (Japan), Billy Mayfair, Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Kevin Sutherland, D.J. Trahan, and Bubba Watson. They may not be off to a great start in 2009, but they earned their way here with a great year in 2008. All it takes is a dream and an entry spot.

Similarly for those who qualified only by virtue of their 2008 Top 20 finish on the European Tour are Darren Clarke (Northern Ireland), Richard Finch (England), Soren Hanson (Denmark), James Kingston (South Africa), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark), and Pablo Larrazabal (Spain).

Okay time to test your knowledge of international golf. The Top three qualifiers from the Asian Tour?

They are Jeev M. Singh (India), Lin Wen-tang (Taiwan), and Mark Brown (New Zealand).

From the Japan Golf Tour, we have Shingo Katayama (Japan), Azumo Yano (Japan), and Prayad Marksaeng (Thailand).

Likewise from the PGA Tour Australasia coming to play are Mark Brown (also No. 3 in Asia), Rod Pampling (Australia), and Geoff Ogilvy (also No. 4 in the world ranking).

Finally from the Sunshine Tour and all from South Africa also teeing it up this week at Doral are Richard Sterne, Garth Mulroy, and Thomas Aiken.

Looking at the field by country of origin there are 27 golfers from the United States, 10 from South Africa, eight from England, six from Australia, and four each from Spain and Sweden. In total there are 80 golfers from 20 countries—the best in the world competing in the same tournament.

All the familiar names are there, in all the familiar places… Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia (Spain), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Vijay Singh (Fiji), and Padraig Harrington (Ireland) are all playing the Blue Monster at Doral.

Then there are some unfamiliar names becoming familiar to us like Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), and Alvaro Quiros (Spain) may end up winning.

Enjoy the competition!

Y.E. Yang has something in common with K.J. Choi other than their Korean heritage and international victories. He is now a winner on the PGA Tour having captured the 2009 Honda Classic in convincing fashion.

After a 65 on Friday vaulted him into the lead, solid steady rounds of 70 and 68 over the weekend earned him the victory and the $1,008,000 winner’s check.

It will also cause him to change his travel plans to play in the WGC-CA Championship this week in Miami instead of the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular. Plus, there is an invitation to the Masters coming in the mail.

After beating Tiger Woods and winning the 2006 HSBC Champions, Yang admits to having a lapse in goals after that win enabled his first Masters appearance. In addition, that win brought more invitations to play in the most competitive world golf events.

With no victories against the better competition, Yang’s confidence suffered. Even in his gracious acceptance speech, complete with prepared notes for him and his interpreter he said “I didn’t think I could win.” But win he did, in convincing fashion.

It was a day where several contenders tried to narrow the gap over the course of the day where the golf course, Jack Nicklaus’ backyard baby, the Champion at PGA National played tough as the wind blew and the Florida sun continued to shine.

Temperatures hovered around 80 degrees the entire week and by Sunday afternoon the greens and even some fairways turned that crusted brownish color indicating their firmness and difficulty.

But as each contender emerged, Yang maintained the gap and played the right card and in the end his being one stroke better than anyone else translated into his first win in America.

First to keep Yang honest was his playing partner, Jeff Klauk, who stayed as close as he possibly could the entire front nine.

The 31-year old rookie, playing in only his eighth PGA TOUR event, carded all pars except for the par-4 14th hole, where his tee shot found the water.

Though the lack of birdies was as noticeable as the Florida drought, Klauk’s fourth round score of 71 earned him solo fourth place and a check for $268,800.

This surely will whet his appetite for more competition with more success not that far down the road, maybe even in Puerto Rico.

“I played well. Just couldn’t really get any momentum going, but made some nice putts for par, and unfortunately didn’t make any for birdie.”

Next to challenge Yang was Robert Allenby with four birdies in his first 10 holes being offset with one bogey on No. 4.

However, he faltered down the stretch with bogeys on Nos. 12, 13, and 18 to finish tied for seventh place with Will MacKenzie and Fredrik Jacobson. All three golfers shot even-par 70 on Sunday.

The biggest challenge came from John Rollins, the only golfer to record four rounds in the 60s this week. Rollins got hot mid-round with birdies on Nos. 8, 9, 11, and 12. But his performance was matched by Yang, who birdied No. 12 to get to 11-under par for the tournament.

Rollins bogeyed No. 15 and was watching scoreboards and saw what seemed to be an insurmountable gap.

“I got on the 16th tee and I saw that I was four back. So at that point, I felt that I had three holes to buckle down and really focus on second place.

“And if something happened, something happened. I honestly was playing for second place. When I was four shots back, I was playing as hard as I could to make sure I didn’t come back to the guys behind me and at least get second by myself.”

Rollins second place finish was worth $604,800 and came with an invitation to next week’s WGC-CA Championship. Since that is an $8 million event with no cut, it is a guaranteed paycheck.

Though his play for second place almost led to a playoff for first place, Rollins was pleased with his performance and had hearty congratulations for the winner.

“It’s not easy out there. He had it 11-under par at one time, and I’m just thinking, man, where is that? Where is 11-under par out here? I was doing all I could just to get to 8-under.

“But I’m very happy. I did all that I could do today. I shot 3-under par, like I said, on a tough golf course to give myself a chance to win. And you can’t frown at that.”

Ben Crane, who rode a roller coaster on Saturday with an ace on the par-3 fifth hole and two double bogeys, shot 68 on Sunday to finish solo third and earn $380,800. He takes away all positives from this week’s work.

“I’ve put a lot of work in with my instructor, and I am playing better than I have ever played. I’m physically fit more than I ever and working with my mental coach. I just feel like everything I’m doing, I’m just going the right direction.

“I’m trying not to press for results, just keep plugging away and I’m really encouraged after a great finish today.”

The big winner, though, was Yang, who was relieved after facing a tough two-putt for par from 49 feet on the 18th hole to maintain his one stroke lead over Rollins.

“That putt was not an easy putt. It was actually pretty intimidating. Looking at the green conditions on that hole, I just asked myself, what do I need to do to two-putt this?

“You know, the grass was leaning towards the water. It was a downhill putt. It was very hard to determine the speed. I asked myself, how strong do I have to hit it? But once I made the decision, it was simple; just execute.”

And execute he did, leaving himself a tap-in for his first PGA Tour victory.

On Saturday, Yang characterized his even-par round of 70 as: “I just didn’t make the putts that I needed to, the birdie putts. All five of the birdie chances I had missed the hole ever so slightly. I think that was the big difference, not being able to make the putts.”

At the end of the day on Sunday, his scorecard showed that he made the five birdies he needed on Nos. 3, 4, 5, 8, and 12 to offset bogeys on Nos. 6, 15, and 17. Though the famed “Bear Trap” of hole Nos. 15, 16, and 17 caught him a bit he still captured the victory.

“I think my dreams are now bigger, now that I’ve won here. My expectations are higher.”

Competition against the world’s best golfers awaits Yang down the road at Doral at the WGC and at the Masters and Players for sure.

Yang uses an interpreter at his media interview sessions. When asked how good his English is he replied: “I think my English is just good enough just to get around.”

Well, he got around PGA National in stellar fashion this week and interestingly enough, when asked about those five birdies that helped him win today, he described them to a “tee” using the English language!

Korean Y.E. Yang stayed in place on top of the leader board when all the moving was over on Saturday. So did Jeff Overton, who remains tied for second place one stroke behind.

Both shot even par 70 on the tough and demanding Champion golf course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Jeff Klauk moved into a tie with Overton coming all the way from seventh place by shooting an impressive 67.

None of these players have won a PGA TOUR event although Yang has won five times in Japan and his native Korea.

Right behind them two strokes off the lead are Charles Wi, Brett Quigley, and John Rollins. Of those three, John Rollins is the only one who has won on the PGA TOUR—twice, the last being the 2006 B.C. Open presented by Turning Stone.

He has 238 career starts while Quigley trumps that as a winless tour veteran with 339 starts. Wi, also Korean, has 84 starts and nine international victories.

Further behind at three strokes off the lead but certainly not out of it is the ultimate tour veteran Mark Calcavecchia. Bear-like in some physical respects he got caught in course designer Jack Nicklaus’ famous Bear Trap to fall out of contention last year on Sunday afternoon.

The sand shot on the par-three 15th hole that would never stop and kept rolling and rolling across the hardened green ending up on the rocks in the water hazard. His Sunday 73 resulted in a fourth-place tie, three strokes behind winner Ernie Els.

“Calc” has 498 career starts, 13 PGA TOUR victories including a Major in the memorable playoff win over Greg Norman and Wayne Grady at Royal Troon in the 1989 British Open.

There are five other players tied with Calcavecchia. Swede Fredrik Jacobson has played in 125 PGA TOUR events with no ultimate success though he has won three times internationally.

Ben Crane (169 starts, two victories, most recent was 2005 U.S. Bank Championship) who aced the par-three fifth hole on Saturday to only double bogey the ninth and nearby 11th hole later in the day.

Jason Dufner, Q-School graduate with 84 starts shot 68 on Saturday to move up from 13th to seventh place. Will MacKenzie who faltered with a 72 in the third round has 110 starts and two victories including last fall’s Viking Classic.

Local resident Robert Allenby the sentimental favorite mourning the recent loss of his mother had some quirky lies that resulted in a double bogey on the par-five third hole and bogeys coming in on Nos. 13 & 14.

Maybe all the breaks will come his way in the final round resulting in his first victory since 2001 in 310 PGA TOUR starts.

Tournament leader Y.E. Yang with 46 PGA TOUR starts wants to avoid going back to Q-School needs the putts to fall on Sunday and shoot under par to have a legitimate chance to win.

“I just didn’t make the putts that I needed to, the birdie putts. All five of the birdie chances I had missed the hole ever so slightly. I think that was the big difference, not being able to make the putts.”

He may be hoping that no shoots a 65 and comes out of the pack.

“So I’ve just got to stay very patient, and when I get those birdie opportunities, try to make them, otherwise, I think it will be difficult without shooting at least one or two under to win.”

Ernie Els won last year with a 274 total (six-under) while Mark Wilson’s total was 275 (five-under).

Maybe an even par round by Yang will do it but a 67 and 270 total (10-under) is more convincing given the number of pursuers.

Jeff Klauk, a 31-year old rookie is playing in only his eighth PGA TOUR event. He has won three times on the Nationwide Tour and earned his tour card by finishing third last year.

When asked if there is any difference between winning the Honda Classic and a Nationwide event he replied:

“Nothing, except the surroundings I guess. It’s just 18 holes of golf, and you’ve got to really approach it that way. It’s a much bigger stage, but you can’t really worry about that. You just have to get in your own little world and just fairways and greens and just try to play like it’s any other round.”

He has the pedigree to be a PGA TOUR champion, maybe even a Major champion some day. His father Fred was golf course superintendent at TPC Sawgrass before retiring after last year’s PLAYERS championship.

The elder Klauk earned the 2000 Golfweek’s 2000 Golf Father-of-the-Year award for having passed his love of golf down to his three sons. He set up golf courses for 27 PGA TOUR events including 22 PLAYERS.

He even prepared Eagle Trace for the Honda and Jeff has memories of it as an eight-year old. “I remember sitting up on 18 with my dad in the cart watching the guys finish. It’s neat to be on the other side of it.”

It would be really neat if he can make this year’s Honda Classic his first PGA TOUR victory.

Klauk is a hard worker and though given opportunities in life it is his performance that earns him the respect of those in the game of golf. He played six weeks straight from the SONY Open in Hawaii to the Northern Trust Open at Riviera before taking a break last week.

With a tie for twelfth at the SONY and a tie for eleventh at the Buick Invitational he is poised to breakthrough with a win. “It’s just great to be in this position. I expect to be in this position.

I’m not out here just for a year and that’s it and go back to the Nationwide Tour. This is where I want to be, and contend and win tournaments on the PGA TOUR.”

Jeff Overton with 85 career starts was wearing all white on Saturday survived a triple bogey seven on the 11th hole and birdied three of the last six holes coming in. Though his mistakes were costly he is in a position to win this tournament.

On 11, he misjudged the wind and his approach landed in the water well short of the green. His next attempt cleared the hazard but hit the bank and rolled down into the muck. Though playable due to the south Florida draught conditions he chose not to go in after it.

“Yeah, I thought about it and I had this nice, great, white outfit on. I would rather just go ahead and have the extra shot than get it all muddy.” It will be interesting and hopefully not funny to see if he needs that one stroke at the end of the Honda Classic on Sunday afternoon.

A million guys probably would have put the rain suit on or taken the white pants off but then again there is only one Jeff Overton and there will be only one 2009 Honda Classic champion.

Mark Calcavecchia, the always competitive veteran turns 49 in June and the associated two-year exemption would dovetail nicely with his 2007 Pods victory giving him plenty of PGA and Champions Tour options.

“Last year I had a good chance. I said last year, if I can keep my ball out of the water all day long, I’d have a good chance and I hit three balls in the water last year, including that bunker shot on 15.

“So we’ll try to erase that memory. If I can keep my ball dry tomorrow, like I said last year, I may have a good chance.”

His scores have improved every day—Thursday 74, Friday 67, Saturday 65. He made the biggest move on moving day climbing all the way up to seventh from 36th place. A Sunday 65 would definitely earn him his third Honda Classic title and one in each of the last three decades (1987, 1998, and 2009).

Brett Quigley is taking a relaxed approach. “I’m just trying to go have fun. That’s what I’m doing all week, just not really worried about playing golf. I’m sure I’ll be thinking about it tomorrow, but I know if I can just think about playing golf when I’m out there, I might have a chance to win.”

What would a PGA TOUR victory mean to him? “If I finish tomorrow, if I’m atop the leader board, that’s great. That’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life.”

All said there are 18 players within five shots of Yang. A 64 or 65 is not out of the question. With the Bear Trap looming no doubt it will be an exciting Sunday back nine. Will it be a relative newcomer that secures that first victory or a grizzly veteran that snatches up another one?

With the end of daylight savings time there will be an extra hour of sunshine tomorrow evening with plenty of time for a playoff. Who knows what will spring forward at that time.

Y.E. Yang shot a five under par 65 on the Champion course at PGA National to take the lead at the midpoint of the 2009 Honda Classic. Along with Thursday’s 68 he is at 133 and seven strokes under par.

One shot behind Yang is Robert Allenby, the first round leader who shot 68 after opening with a 66, outdoor adventure sportsman turned professional golfer Will MacKenzie with a pair of 67s, and Jeff Overton, a gutsy 25-year-old upstart who also played to a pair of 67s over the first two days of the 10th tournament of the 2009 edition of the PGA Tour.

Yang dared to think about what it would be like if he held the same position at the conclusion of play on Sunday afternoon.

“It would be a dream come true,” he said.

He continues to develop his game and elevate himself on the world golf scene. In the beginning, all he wanted to be was a golf teaching professional.

“But as I got more deeper into golf, I started getting better. That naturally led me to taking membership on the Korean Tour, and as I improved on the Korean Tour, I moved on to the Japan Tour and started winning in Korea and I won on the Asian Tour and I started winning on the Japan Tour and then I won on the European Tour.”

Now he has a chance to win on the PGA TOUR.

Yang is best known for beating the best golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, at the HSBC Champions in Nov. 2006 at the Sheshan International GC in Shanghai, China to earn the crown “champion of champions.”

The HSBC Champions event is the first tournament on the European Tour schedule. Sergio Garcia, World No. 2 got off to a fast start in the race for Dubai by winning the same championship four months ago. The 2009 European Tour concludes with the $10 million Dubai World Championship in November.

The 37-year-old golfer, who earned his tour card by finishing tied for 18th at Q-School, is frank in his explanation as to why Korean men have not done as well on the PGA Tour as Korean women have on the LPGA.

“I would just summarize in three key aspects. In my opinion, I think, first of all, Korean men have to serve military for two years. So when you’re in your 20s at the prime of your golfing career, not to be able to—to be taken away to military and not playing golf for two years, I think it takes you out of the routine, the feel that you had about the game out.  And then when you come back after your military service and try to pick it up again, it takes a while to do that. Definitely that’s the biggest issue.”

“Secondly, when you’re playing—there’s a lot of driving ranges in Korea, but when you’re playing golf tournaments, some of the courses don’t even have driving ranges. So you’re finding before you go out to the golf course to play your round, people have to stop by an outdoor range somewhere else and then drive to the golf course. So that it’s not the ideal environment to play competitive golf. Even a lot of touring pros still practice on artificial mattresses.”

“I think, lastly, I don’t think there’s as much of a physical or talent differentiation on the women’s tour as there is on the men’s tour. I think on the women’s tour, they have realized the successes of Se Ri Pak, and they believe that if someone like her can be as successful, who is physically about the same size as me, then they are motivated. That’s why you’ve seen a lot of the women players come over to the USA and challenge on the LPGA Tour.”

“On the men’s tour, I think the Korean men know that the competition is a lot—the depth of the players is a lot deeper. The physical aspect, I think they just get too scared and they don’t even give themselves a chance to even come and try the Q-School. So, even before the challenge starts, you find the young men just giving up. So, I think once they overcome that, once they realize that they can compete out here, then it will change.”

Change is already coming in Noh Seung-yul, a 17-year-old rising star from South Korea. He won the China Classic as a rookie on the Asian Tour last year and fired a 10-under 62 in the first round of the Malaysian Open earlier this year.

Rory McIlroy, a 19-year-old Irish toddler himself, referred to this young Korean phenomenon as possibly joining himself and 19-year-old Japanese-American Tadd Fujikawa as the next new era of golfers.

“It’s good for worldwide golf that you have so many players from so many different countries becoming so much better,” McIlroy said.

Seasoned veteran Robert Allenby played well in the second round, knowing consistency could lead to his first PGA Tour title in eight years.

“So I just played smart golf. I knew I didn’t have to be aggressive, and I know that if I shoot under par every day, it’s going to be pretty close at the end of the week,” Allenby said.

The Aussie chipped in for birdie on No. 16 and is starting to feel very confident about his game and chance of success this week.

“It’s just a matter of believing in yourself and having the confidence to just stand up there and hit the shots, one after the other, under the gun,” he said.

Is it fun or stressful for Allenby to be in this position?

“It’s just a matter of just staying patient and just enjoying what I do. Right now, that’s what I’m doing. I enjoy what I’m doing.”

Allenby, playing for only the third time this year, was in a horrific car accident in 1996, which broke his sternum and smashed up his whole face. With his mother’s recent passing, these life experiences are putting things into the proper perspective for him; he is focusing on consistency, longevity, and future successes.

“I still consider myself young. I’m only 37. But I see myself being able to play the same golf when I’m 54 years of age, because I actually feel like I’m in great shape. I feel like I’m stronger now than I was when I was in my 20s.”

Jeff Overton, a 25-year-old who overcame appendicitis last fall to secure his tour card, is thinking about his chances of winning his first tournament and how difficult it will be to do that.

“Tiger has raised the bar. It’s unbelievable how good these guys are, it really is. It’s unbelievable how many players have not won yet, but only one guy wins each week. You only have 35, 40 weeks, whatever it is, and you get Tiger winning half of them; there’s not a lot of room for other players,” said Overton.

Will MacKenzie, a 34-year-old two-time winner on tour likes to copy other people’s swings, like Ted Purdy and Steve Elkington. He even invented one of his own called the Wille-Mac swing, but knows enough not to copy Tiger’s swing.

“I watch Tiger swing and I go ‘I’m going to start trying to swing like Tiger.’ You can’t swing like Tiger. He’s Tiger,” MacKenzie said.

MacKenzie has held various jobs such as dish dog, cook, kayak guide, ski patrol, wilderness EMT, roofer, Taco Bell, and security guard before turning pro in 2000. As an adventure sportsman, he fancied rock climbing, kayaking, and heliboarding, and even lived out of his van for five years along the way to settling down with a wife and son.

”Everybody can’t be a heliboarder forever, or a Class V kayaker forever. You can, but you can’t be a professional golfer at the same time. It is tough.”

Eight other golfers are within four strokes of the lead: tour rookie David Mathias, birthday boy Ben Crane (celebrated 33rd birthday on Friday), Greg Chalmers, who shot the tournament best 64 on Friday, Czech Alex Cejka, 2008 Q-School champion Harrison Frazar, John Rollins, who finished second alone at Riviera, another shoemaker’s course, rookie Jeff Klauk of TPC Sawgrass pedigree, and Aussie James Nitties.

PGA National is a tough golf course. Cut day is over, and now Saturday is moving day, so let’s see what happens when the 79 golfers who survived the cut at plus-three put a peg in the ground in the third round of the Honda Classic.

Robert Allenby is leading the Honda Classic shooting a 4-under par 66 in windy conditions at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Back in December down under at the Australian Masters, Allenby sized up the situation for what it was.

“I knew that it would be the last tournament and last shot that really she would ever see me hit.”

His mom passed about a month ago, and there is that sense of emptiness we all feel when our mother leaves us alone in this world. She was an inspiration to him and left him with some departing words that December day in Australia.

“There are more important things in life than winning tournaments.”

We all know that, but we all know we have to do what it is we do, even after our mom has gone on to a better place.

Allenby, a winner of four PGA Tour tournaments, the last one coming way back in 2001, is trying hard to win this one in his mother’s memory.

Playing in the sun with a heavy heart under adverse conditions such as wind, a dried out course due to southern Florida’s drought conditions, and slow play due to those adverse conditions, his low round of the day was fairly miraculous.

On the difficult par-4 sixth hole, he took off his shoes and rolled up his pants to blast one out of the muck. “I was going to take my pants off, but I thought about Ian Baker-Finch, that scene has been shown so many times, and I know I’ve got better legs than him.”

That incident was back in 1993 at Colonial. It’s funny how humor gets us through the tough times both on and off the course.

This 37-year-old professional golfer with 16 international victories on his resume possesses a brilliant mind with some solid common sense about the game of golf. When queried if his ability to go into the muck hazard was because of the dry conditions he replied:

“Well, if it was wet, then the ball probably wouldn’t have bounced in there. Because it’s dry, it bounced into the hazard. So it works both ways, really, when you look at it like that.”

Incidentally his last three international victories all came in 2005 at the Australian Masters, Open, and PGA. It would be nice, yet difficult to win one for mom.

In a six-way tie for second place one stroke back with 67s are Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Stewart Cink, Charlie Wi, Jeff Overton, Will MacKenzie, and Sergio Garcia (Spain).

Garcia and MacKenzie played in the afternoon where the wind was slightly stronger and the temperatures dropped considerable as the sun lowered in the sky.

Garcia’s 4-under front nine and 1-over back nine were indicative of the deteriorating playing conditions. But some of that was attributed to deteriorating patience on his part.

After birding Nos. 8 and 9 with putts of 12 and 32 feet respectively Sergio missed birdie putts of 7, 20, 30, 14, and 22 on the first five holes of the back nine.

His 5-iron on the par-3 15th hole, the start of course designer Jack Nicklaus’ “Bear Trap” was perfect in distance though 14 yards left of the hole in the bunker.

After hitting a reasonable sand shot to 7 feet the Spaniard stared it down as though it should have released and gone into the hole for a deuce.

With the frustration building from the greens to his sand game Garcia missed the 7-footer for his only bogey of the day.

On the next hole his approach shot from 171 yards into the wind and directly on line to the flagstick was short, caught the slope and rolled back leaving him a 38-foot lag putt versus a makeable birdie putt.

Frustrated with the playing conditions and the lack of birdies, Sergio did a twisting right knee kick into the wind and uttered the helpless “God” that we all do in times of distress. He finished off the back nine with two-putt pars from 21 and 39 feet.

In his brief post-round interview, he summed it all up and put the right media spin on it by saying: “I still felt like I played great on the back nine, and I shot 1-over. That tells you everything about this course, and the last four or five holes are quite tough. I was happy to finish 3-under, and it’s a good start.”

What does that comment tell us about Sergio Garcia? After seeing him win the playoff in last year’s Players Championship in a dramatic fashion on the TPC Sawgrass famous island green par-3 17th hole, he is destined to win his first Major perhaps this year.

Without a more refined sense of patience on the golf course, that looming Major victory is in doubt.

Angel Cabrera, winner of the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont CC by one stroke over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, had a bogeyless 3-birdie 67.

Stewart Cink, a five-time winner on the PGA TOUR, is coming off a strong third-place finish at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship last week had five birdies and two bogeys.

Charlie Wi, winner of nine international events yet winless on the PGA Tour in 84 career starts, had six birdies, one bogey and one double-bogey in his opening round.

Jeff Overton, who turned pro in 2005 and finished 99th on the money list last year, had four birdies and one bogey in this his 85th PGA Tour start.

Will MacKenzie won last year’s Viking Classic and finished tied for twelfth at the season opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. Since then he missed four cuts in a row before taking last week off. The 34-year-old, who lives nearby in Jupiter, Fla., had five birdies and two bogeys.

Four players are within two shots of Allenby’s lead: Kent Jones from New Mexico, who tied for 18th at last year’s Q-School; Y.E. Yang from South Korea, who also tied for 18th at last year’s Q-School; David Mathias from North Carolina, who finished 14th on the Nationwide Tour last year; and Chris Riley from Las Vegas, winner of the 2002 Renoe-Tahoe Open who also finished tied for 18th at last year’s Q-School.

Defending champion Ernie Els shot a 3-over par 73.

Looking ahead to Friday’s second round, it will be interesting to see how Robert Allenby controls his emotions and if Sergio Garcia can stay patient enough to perform at top of his game.

Ogilvy Beats the World in Match Play

It’s March now and Geoff Ogilvy’s march to the top echelons of the world of golf is progressing quite nicely.

On Sunday, the master of match play continued his hot play and quietly disposed of Englishman Paul Casey 4-3 in the 36-hole finale to the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. After being tested to 19 holes in his first two matches with Kevin Sutherland and Shingo Katayama, Ogilvy disposed of up-and-coming stars Camillo Villegas and Rory McIlroy before dusting off Casey in the Arizona desert.

There is a case to be made for Geoff to join Tiger, Padraig, and Phil in the top foursome of golf.

Tiger Woods with 65 PGA Tour victories and 14 Major Championships is the undisputed world No. 1. Padraig Harrington winning three of the last six Majors including the last two in a row has a chance to do this year with victories at the Masters and U.S. Open what only Tiger has been able to do—possess all four Major Championship trophies at one time.

Phil Mickelson has 35 PGA Tour victories and three Majors though the last of those came at the 2006 Masters almost three years ago.

It was Phil who allowed Geoff to come out and shine brightly onto the world golf scene at the 2006 U.S. Open. by double-bogeying the last hole at Winged Foot.

Though earlier in that year Ogilvy defeated Davis Love III in 36-hole finale of this WGC match play championship held at La Costa in California.

The 31-year old Aussie validated his place in golf history by winning last year’s WGC- CA Championship a stroke-play event at famed Blue Monster at Doral thereby ending Tiger Woods win streak at five victories in a row. He has won two of the last four WGC Accenture Match Play Championships with a loss in the final match to Henrik Stenson in the 2007 version.

Now with his defense of the WGC-CA Championship only one week away and the Masters only five weeks away Ogilvy’s posed to make even a bigger name for himself during this 2009 golf season.

When first asked in the post-round interview about his ranking Ogilvy was humble.  “That’s not really for me to decide it’s for you guys (golf writers) to decide where I sit in the pecking order.”

Though when asked to “go Poulter” in the interview room as in Ian Poulter’s boast around this time last year “I haven’t played to my full potential and when that happens, it will be just me and Tiger,” Ogilvy remained Ogilvy and let his clubs and record do the talking. “Well there’s a few guys in the world who are obviously well in front of me: Tiger, Phil, Sergio, Harrington. So there’s four. So I’m at least fifth. Sergio hasn’t got a Major, but Sergio’s won a lot of big tournaments.”

Segio did win last year’s Players Championship, but has no Major or WGC wins on his resume. Ogilvy is the fourth in the top foursome, no doubt and his humbleness and quiet effectiveness may very well someday take him to the top.

A match play format with the world’s best 64 golfers makes this event a true delight on the PGA Tour. There were many stories this week none less meaningful then the return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf. He came out in style, his style of playing phenomenal golf birding the first hole and eagling the second. Tiger’s back and that is good for the world of golf and entertaining as all heck for the rest of us. What magic will he bring to the Masters this spring? Maybe a fifth green jacket this year along with one more Major? If so he halves the Major deficit of four to Nicklaus’ golden number of 18.

However, Woods was knocked out early in the second round by a red-hot Tim Clark, who then was knocked off by the emerging 19-year old rising star name Rory McIlroy, who himself then ran into eventual champion Ogilvy.

The story this week is easily that of the format- match-play. Playing this format is something these guys do a lot of as amateur college golfers and little of as professional golfers. With its ties to the very inception of the game on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland match play is well suited to be on the schedule of competitive golf.

The essence of match play is well “It’s very fickle and you never know what can happen,” as Rory McIlroy put it. Ross Fisher, Another Englishman who lost in the consolation match to a Stewart Cink holed bunker shot on the last hole put it another way: “Every game’s a tough game. It’s match play and it’s the top 64 players playing, so every game’s going to be difficult. If you turn up and you’re slightly off your game, you’re going to go home. And even you can turn up and be on your game and shoot 5-, 6-under and you can still go home.” Mono-a-Mono competition and all bets are off.

Casey paid Ogilvy a huge compliment when asked about Ogilvy’s competitiveness in match play. “What is tough about playing Geoff is that he doesn’t change. His demeanor doesn’t waiver, which is a huge attribute, especially in match play. He walks the same pace, whether he’s playing well or poorly. He manages himself very, very well, and that’s what I felt today. Even when I felt like I made birdies he just sort of laughs at you and he just carries on with what he’s doing. It’s Geoff being Geoff.”

With an international field assembled there are natural tendencies to join forces with your fellow countrymen and look ahead to the competition at this year’s President’s Cup and even next year’s Ryder Cup.  Ogilvy spoke as to how he chose ASU and settled in Arizona: “You tend to, when you’re foreigners, you tend to go where some of your country people are. Whether you should or not, you do. Everyone does, really.”

There’s family and country first within the international golfing community.  Casey looked at it in another way “I think it was maybe the second round it seemed like that a huge number of the Americans had won their matches, and then all of a sudden the following day we have got five Englishmen, for example, through to the next round, equal number of Americans and it’s like, wow, look the British are coming.”

It’s well known that Davis Love III wants to compete in the President’s Cup in October with his friend Freddie Couples captaining the American team against the Internationals. He wants it as badly as Kenny Perry wanted to play for the Stars and Stripes in his home state of Kentucky at last year’s Ryder Cup at Valhalla. Camillo Villegas wants to play for Captain Greg Norman on the other side “I do love playing match play and I would love to be on Greg’s team and I’ll work hard to be a part of it.”

The recent Ryder Cup experience factored into one match for sure.  Oliver Wilson after defeating Anthony Kim in the second round commented that “obviously the Ryder Cup I think maybe helped me a little bit, knowing that I’ve already beat him before.” Casey was talking about it but not thinking about it:  “Ryder Cup is a long way away. It’s not certainly not in my mind.” If you are talking about something isn’t it in your mind?

Then there is always the story line about the introspection all golfers whether professional or amateur do to themselves—how can I be a better golfer, how can I be a better match play competitor? Oliver Wilson is trying to develop a Tiger demeanor.  “I always seem to get somebody who’s playing great, and I don’t know if that’s because I’m friendly out on the course and make people relaxed. I’ve tried to change a little bit, I haven’t really spoke to anyone yet this week. I’m keeping myself to myself, grinding it out, and it’s working so far.”  Nobody wants to be a patsy.

Ogilvy has proven he is no patsy. He is without a doubt one of the finest golfers in the world at this moment in time. He is the lead Australian to fill the void of departing Greg Norman’s legacy of 20 PGA Tour victories and two British Open victories. He’s surpassed the other 23 Aussies competing on the PGA Tour with five PGA Tour victories of his own including that 2006 U.S. Open and now three World Golf Championships.

Wouldn’t it be something to see Greg and Geoff in the final twosome at Augusta on Sunday afternoon?

(Originally published by Andy Reistetter on the Bleacher Report circa 3-1-09)

Major Victory for Mark Wilson: 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya

Winning a Major is the pinnacle of success in the world of professional golf. So much so that sometimes we forget about the journey to reach that lofty peak and the importance of each major step along the way.

Mark Wilson took one of those major steps by winning the third edition of the PGA Tour in Mexico: the 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya.

How important is it to win a sanctioned PGA Tour event? Majorly important, as it comes with a two-year exemption.

Interestingly enough, the All-Exempt Tour Priority Rankings are listed before any player biographies in the official 2009 guidebook. Bottom line is it does not matter who you are: Unless you have high enough priority to make it into the field for any given tournament you don’t play.

And if you don’t play, you can’t win official money, and sooner or later, your exemption will cease to exist on the PGA Tour.

Wilson’s last PGA Tour victory (and only until last week) came at the 2007 Honda Classic. Therefore, his two-year exemption was scheduled to expire at the end of the 2009 season. So Mark’s timing is perfect—two wins has equated to four years of being exempt into PGA Tour tournaments.

Of course, a tournament win doesn’t guarantee entry into all tournaments, as the four Majors, Players, WGC events, and invitation-only events (like the Mercedes Benz) have other, more exclusive selection criteria.

The Mayakoba win does not come with an automatic invitation to the 2009 Masters since there is not a full FedEx Cup point allocated to the event. Still, it is a huge win for Mark Wilson and sets the stage for bigger things to come in the future.

The win in Mexico is a boost of confidence for the 34-year-old golfer born in Menomonee Falls outside of Madison, Wisconsin. He currently lives in Elmhurst, Illinois (a Chicago suburb)

So, like other northern neighbors Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, sometimes it takes him a few starts to “defrost” the winter swing. Out of five previous 2009 starts Wilson, who cites Ben Hogan as his hero, missed the cut at the Sony Open, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, and the Northern Trust Open. And in the other two, the FBR Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he tied for 48th and 39th, respectively.

Wilson, who came out of the University of North Carolina in 1997 with a mathematics degree, turned pro immediately and climbed the ranks, winning three times on the Hooters Tour. In 2002, he played the Nationwide Tour and gained his tour card, finishing tied for 17th in the Qualifying Tournament. He finished No. 128 on the money list.

He split his time in 2004 between the PGA and Nationwide Tours. He narrowly secured his tour card again (at Q-School), finishing tied for 26th. But once again, he finished outside the magical top 125 on the money list (at No. 156)

Then he earned his tour card for the third time at the 2006 Q-School, finishing tied for 29th. Finally, he got his first victory in the 2007 Honda Classic in his 111th PGA Tour start, and he has not looked back.

Now, only 55 starts later (in his 166th), he has his second win.

To put this in perspective, there are eight veteran members of the tour still out there competing with well over 300 career starts and zero victories: Jay Delsing (555), Skip Kendall (387), Marco Dawson (371), Brett Quigley (338), Scott Gump (329), Michael Allen (328), Omar Uresti (305), and Harrison Frazar (305). Earlier this year, at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, Pat Perez won his first PGA Tour event in his 198th start.

Congratulations, Mark Wilson, for taking another major step in your professional golfing career. May your next victory be a Major!

Phil Mickelson Back on Track with Roller Coaster Win at Riviera

Earlier in the week Phil was asked if playing Riviera CC and defending his 2008 Northern Trust victory will help him get his game back on track.

He replied, “I certainly hope so. I’ve played well here the last couple of years. I think that it’s starting to come around.

“The first three weeks obviously were not what I wanted. This is a great place to get it turned around.”

Those first three weeks of the season included a missed cut at the FBR Open in his collegiate home state of Arizona, a tie for 42nd at the Buick Invitational in his childhood backyard at Torrey Pines and a tie for 55th in last week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The roller coaster we know and love, as Phil seemed to be shutdown, off-track, with the engine still in the barn. The energy level, the smile, and the sheepish confidence reemerged this week and provided us with an exciting Sunday finish in a grand old tournament that dates back to 1926.

How did Phil get back on track? His billionaire amateur-playing partner Charles Schwab last week up north at Pebble Beach may have had something to do with it. Maybe they had a conversation about the current economic situation we all face and the message to Phil was to get back out there and win some cash because investments are down and money is tight. On the first tee at Pebble Beach on Saturday morning Chuck was carrying their pro-am team. Phil was only one-under and the team was 14-under. Chuck was not sandbagging either, as he played with an eight handicap.

While comic actors came to the first tee and asked the crowd what the difference between a pizza and an actor was, it appeared Phil was all business. Others like Parker McLachlin were chitchatting and pointing out to Chuck that he was playing with an older generation golf ball.

Ten minutes before Mickelson teed off he was eyeing the fairway and asking his caddie Bones if it was “250 to the bunker?” The answer was a pizza can feed a family of four. But Phil is no actor or comic. He knows he needs to win and that is what he is focused on doing.

It was a roller-coaster week for Phil at Riviera starting off low on Thursday with a 63, then ramping it up to a 72 on Friday so we could all feel the rush of the roller coaster going down even lower to a 62 on Saturday. Sunday we were back up to 72 but with many twists and turns.

The start of the ride was exciting as Phil drained a 38-footer to match Freddie Couples’ gimmie eagle on the par-five first hole.  Freddie was close throughout the day but needed a few more putts to drop.

The third member of the final group, Andres Romero, hung in there too with a chance for a playoff spot if he made a 15-foot putt on the 18th green and Phil missed a six-foot par putt. Phil didn’t miss and won the tournament outright in the regulation up-and-down, in-and-out 72 holes.

Steve Stricker hopeless four weeks ago in the California desert with a disastrous Sunday 77 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer. “That one stuck with me, you know, it just felt like I threw a tournament away with a real good opportunity to win.” This Sunday he trusted his swing, his instincts and came from seven strokes back after the first hole, had the lead and almost won the 2009 Northern Trust Open.

Stricker finished alone in second place. “It’s kind of bittersweet. I’m happy that I’m putting myself in those positions to try to win golf tournaments, but I’m also disappointed I haven’t won one of them or maybe both of them. So it’s good and bad.” We all know golf is a roller coaster ride, don’t we?

“I’ll take a lot out of this to be able to heart it out on 16 and 17 with those on two birdies. Then to make that par on 18 when two years ago I didn’t, that meant a lot to me.”

Phil has heart and focus and now back-to-back victories in one of the premier tournaments on the PGA TOUR. It could have been three in a row if not for that bogey on 18 and the resultant playoff loss to Charles Howell III.

K.J. Choi finished strong with three birdies on the back nine. A fourth birdie, namely making an 11-footer on No. 18 would also have given him a chance for a playoff if Phil hadn’t finished all contenders off by paring the tough 18th hole. K. J. wound up joint third with Couples and Romero.

On Saturday the 2006 champion Rory Sabbatini commented that “this golf course has been known to make people do some silly things out there, and we’ll just see what happens.” On Sunday he went out there and proved himself correct with a double bogey five on the relatively short and simple par-three 16th hole.

His errant tee shot resulted in a horrendous “fried-egg” lie in the deep left bunker. That collapse and a bogey on No. 18 negated his four birdie Sunday back nine charge. Sabbatini finished tied for 6thplace with Mark Calcavecchia, Luke Donald, and J.B. Holmes.

Quite coincidentally, CBS aired a Northern Trust roller coaster commercial during Sunday’s broadcast. A couple is discussing their financial security on the boardwalk—or the pier, as they say in southern California—while their kids are riding a roller coaster in the background.

The man assures his wife that Northern Trust “gets it” and reveals that “roller coasters are for kids” and not for their financial investments. Maybe the PGA TOUR should remake that commercial with Amy and Phil.

Gosh darn that was fun! The up-and-down exciting competition on the PGA TOUR is fun to watch whether in person or on television. We are all kids so come on out and enjoy the thrilling ride to the end of competition each and every week.

Phil has Augusta on his mind noting in his post victory interview that he wanted to “see if I can continue to build on this and carry some momentum into Augusta.”

However, there are a few more ups-and-downs in the seven weeks preceding the playing of the 2009 Masters. Namely, two World Golf championship events with the strongest fields ever competing in match play format this week and then again in medal format at Doral in another two weeks.

And, oh, by the way—that fellow with the name of Tiger Woods is back in the field this week.

Let’s all enjoy the ride this week as Phil and Tiger compete in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Maybe we’ll see two roller coasters collide and see which one stays on track to Augusta.

(First published by Andy Reistetter on Bleacher Report circa 2-22-09.)