For so many years, Phil Mickelson has been quoted as saying that he wanted to have a trophy from each West Coast event. Thanks to some help from Jeff Quinney, Phil has accomplished his goal.
Victory came in his 10th start at the Northern Trust Open. He had made six cuts, with the win representing his second top-10 finish. Mickelson finished runner-up in 2007 when he lost in a playoff to Charles Howell III.
It has been 20 years since Phil Mickelson first stepped inside the ropes at Riviera, a 17-year-old amateur in awe of the fabled course off Sunset Boulevard, inspired by names like Hogan, Snead and Nelson that were on the trophy.
Lefty finally joined them on Sunday, adding to his impressive collection of PGA Tour titles on the West Coast. Phil wins for the 11th time (of 33 wins) in the state of California and the first time at Riviera Country Club. Victories in California: Buick Invitational—(3 - 1993, 2000, 2001); AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am—(3 - 1998, 2005, 2007); Mercedes Championship—(2 - 1994, 1998); Bob Hope Chrysler Classic—(2 - 2002, 2004) and Northern Trust Open (2008)
He now has victories at 19 different PGA Tour stops in his 17-year PGA Tour career and his 33rd career TOUR title ranks 13th all-time PGA Tour winners list.
Mickelson made two clutch putts on the back nine and seized control when Jeff Quinney self-destructed with the putter. Quinney looked like a player trying “way too hard” to beat the left hander. With Quinney’s mistakes and Mickelson playing just well enough to finish the deal, Phil got to take a relaxing walk up the 18th fairway with a victory he felt was a long time coming.
He closed with a 1-under 70 for a two-shot victory.
"The fact I haven't won this and it has taken me so long to win makes it that much more special," Mickelson said.
From the start of the final round, the Northern Trust (a name I still have a hard time saying… how about the Los Angeles Open Northern Trust at Riviera), this tournament was a two man event. Mickelson and Quinney had separated themselves from the remainder of the field by 4 shots.
On the front side, the lead changed a number of times with Quinney playing aggressive, positive golf, but once making the turn, Jeff’s play got a little loose and put too much pressure on his putter.
With this win, Phil Mickelson can now say he has something Tiger has never attained, a win in Los Angeles. It’s surprising, knowing this is Tiger’s home town. Incidentally, Jack Nicklaus never won here either.
British Open champion Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald each shot 68 and tied for third, although this was a two-man race from the start, and a one-man celebration over the final two holes.
Annika Makes her 2008 Debut a great one…
OK, I am going on notice, if you don’t take the time to watch the LPGA, you are making a horrific mistake. Sure, the PGA Tour has Tiger and Phil and John “what’s his name,” but the Women’s tour is getting deeper and deeper.
Ending 2007, Annika Sorenstam, perhaps the greatest women golfer of all time, was not sure she’d ever play again. Injuries to her neck and back left her in a position of total uncertainty. After choosing to bypass surgery, Annika went to work on a strong rehabilitation program.
Having not played in Hawaii for a number of years, Annika chose to open the gates right from the start. With only 13 tournaments played in 2007, Annika was anxious to see how her neck would hold up through a full tournament.
The answer came Saturday night, when Annika won her 70th LPGA event, moving her to just 18 behind all time leader Kathy Whitworth and silencing all the questions concerning her ability to return.
While number one player in the world, Lorena Ochea stayed home and continued to practice for her 2008 season debut, the LPGA introduced us to 2 more sensations, Momoko Ueda of Japan and Russy Gulyanamitta of Thailand. Ueda, a 21 year old rookie, looked like a veteran playing under control and with a smile on her face. Russy, who played on the tour in 2004, lost her card and is back, also had her best career finish.
Perhaps the biggest event of the game came from, unfortunately a rules official. On the tenth hole, Angela Park, who at the time was 7 under par, was handed a two stroke penalty for slow play. Park proceeded to bogey the hole giving her a triple bogey. Angela continued to claw her way back into contention and finished back at 7 under.
After the round, Park was extremely upset about the ruling. “We never caused any delay in play and I truly though it was unfair,” said Park.
For Annika Sorenstam, she finished at 10 under par and will continue her early season play this week at Ko Olina.
“I could not have asked for a better start,” said Sorenstam, who remains third all-time in career victories behind Mickey Wright (82) and Kathy Whitworth (88). “It's very gratifying to see that the preparation I've done paid off and now I really want to put '07 behind and say, ‘Hey, I'm a contender,' and I intend to be that all year.”
