Fairway Files, by Will Weiss

Phil Mickelson’s game was nowhere in his first three events of ’09. He had no confidence in his swing, was out of balance, and seemed to have no idea where the ball was going at any point in time. He looked even more lost with his short game and the short stick, where he forged his reputation. Things were so bad I half-expected him to say “Screw it, I’m playing right-handed from now on.”

The pillar of consistency that Mickelson is, he torched Riviera for an opening-round 63 last Thursday. That 8-under total was significant for many reasons: 1) He hadn’t posted a score below 70 in any of his previous nine rounds to date (he was a combined 7-over par for the season). 2) The round came on the same day Tiger Woods announced his return at the Accenture Match Play Championship. While Tiger doesn’t need any extrinsic motivation, it’s apparent his competition does. The news jolted the field at the Northern Trust Open, and while Mickelson didn’t – and most likely wouldn’t – admit it, he needed that buzz as much as the rest of the golf world.

Mickelson followed the 63 with rounds of 72, 62 and 72 to claim his second straight title at Riviera and the 35^th of his career. Sure, Lefty made it entertaining in the same way a closer gets sloppy with a two- or three-run lead in the ninth inning, but he showed he still has some competitive stones by birdieing two of his last three holes and burying a tricky six-footer on 18 to claim the victory.

Mickelson needed this win badly. He’ll turn 39 on June 16 – the Tuesday of U.S. Open Week – and the consensus among the so-called experts is that the window of opportunity to add to his total of three major titles is closing as he nears 40. If Mickelson wants to dispel that notion and return to his perch as No. 2 in the world and Tiger’s main foil, he’s got some more work to do. Two stellar rounds and two mediocre rounds over a four-day stretch were good enough in Los Angeles but in the long term, that won’t cut it. He did display guts and an ability to produce clutch shots and sink tough putts, though, and those are key ingredients to winning Majors.

 A few more efforts like that leading up to The Masters could vault him into the discussion among the favorites at Augusta.

SNOWMAN AT RIVIERA
Sometimes, the pros can hack like us. Saturday, while playing the par-4 8^th hole – his 17^th of the day – Tommy Armour III’s approach shot landed near the pin and spun back off the elevated green and down into the gnarly kikuyu grass. Five flop shots later, Armour finally reached the putting surface and on his frustrated walk up to the green jammed his lob wedge into the hill. Naturally, he made the 12-footer for an 8.

At the time of the follies, Armour was within three shots of Mickelson’s lead.

TWO STROKE PENALTY FOR FALDO?
At times, Nick Faldo can be as good of an announcer as he was a player. Sometimes, he gets the shanks, like when he gets involved in some of the banter with Gary McCord and David Feherty.

Such was the case during Sunday’s final round. On the 11^th hole, Andres Romero hit a wayward tee shot to the right that hit the cart path. Feherty, on the course with the group that included Mickelson and Fred Couples, described Romero’s ball – and I’m paraphrasing – as being in trouble as it bounded along the road. Faldo’s retort: “Well, David, that’s just like you and flat roads.” An awkward pause followed before Jim Nantz sent the coverage to a different hole. It was a good save by Nantz, but the damage was already done. Feherty, an avid cyclist, was hit by a truck nearly killed in a horrific accident last year. If Faldo was trying to be funny, he failed miserably.

ELSEWHERE…
U.S. Amateur champ Danny Lee, all of 18 years old, who is set to turn pro after The Masters, won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia. It’d be easy to say, “Turn pro now,” but if he did so, he’d lose his invitation to Augusta as the U.S. Amateur champion. Not to worry, though, if his game is good enough to beat the pros now, then what’s another two months?

THIS WEEK
More on Tiger, the Accenture Match Play, and certain-to-fail predictions for the 64-man bracket.