Then came Pebble Beach. Mickelson was four over par after his first 10 holes before going five under on a four-hole stretch. By Saturday, he was lingering on the edge of contention when he hit two straight hybrid shots out of bounds right at Pebble's par-5 14th hole, spun a wedge shot off the green and chunked a pitch en route to an 11 and a missed cut.
It seemed like another Phil folly, like the shot through the trees on the 72nd hole at Winged Foot in 2006 or the "nut shot" that Johnny Miller called at Oakland Hills during the 2004 Ryder Cup or the five-putt on the 10th green at the 2002 Players Championship. But it wasn't. The fairway slopes sharply left at the 14th, so players favor the right side. It doesn't take much of a miss to reach the O.B. stakes. Had he been trying to make a check or get a top-10 finish to pad his bank account, he could've chipped out, but he was trying to win the tournament. Once he bombed one out of bounds, he had to go for it again to try to salvage a bogey. It was a reasonable gamble that went very wrong. Still, don't hold your breath waiting to see Woods make an 11.
This victory at the Riviera is significant for two reasons. First, Phil has 33 wins and counting, and he's doing it in the Tiger Era. It's amazing how many legends of golf never got to 30 PGA Tour victories. Not Johnny Miller, not Lee Trevino, not Raymond Floyd, not Gary Player. It's even more amazing how many Hall of Famers never sniffed 20. Not Ben Crenshaw, not Hubert Green, not Curtis Strange, not Tom Kite, not Julius Boros. Phil's record is remarkable, but it doesn't get much attention compared to Tiger's 62.
Second, Phil finally owns a title and a little piece of history that Tiger doesn't. But don't assume the Northern Trust triumph is confirmation of a pending Tiger vs. Phil showdown at Augusta. Just take it for what it is, a breakthrough that gives Mickelson a connection to Ben Hogan, who made such a habit of winning at Riviera that it became known as Hogan's Alley.
It the middle of You Know Who's era, that's something.
