It's been quite a while since I posted a blog here, so thanks to all of you who have missed my blogging and/or left comments. After watching Phil Mickelson win his third Masters title this past Sunday, (and a BIG congratulations go out to you, Phil!) I felt inspired to blog again.
As those who follow the game closely know, "Lefty's" play had been very lackluster ever since winning the TOUR Championship last September. His finishes over that time: 19,45,8,24,14,30 and 35. Certainly not the type of play you would expect to preceed a major title. All of this got me to thinking about the last time Phil's play was lackluster - the latter part of the 2008 season into early 2009. Not coincidentally (in my opinion), the missing ingredient or common denominator was a certain man named Woods. Check out some numbers I just threw together on Phil on his PGA Tour play since the beginning of the 2008 season. By my count, "Lefty" has played 45 competitive PGA Tour events over that time. In 27 of those tournaments, Tiger was also in the field.
With Tiger in the field (27 tournaments):
Wins: 5 (18.5%)
Top 5's: 10 (37.0%)
Top 10's: 12 (44.4%)
Top 30's: 21 (77.8%)
Median: 14.5
Without Tiger in the field (18 tournaments):
Wins: 1 (5.6%) - note, win was the week prior to Tiger's last return
Top 5's: 3 (16.7%)
Top 10's: 5 (27.8%)
Top 30's: 12 (66.7%)
Median: 19.0
Pretty striking, isn't it? Phil was 3 1/3 times more likely to win with Tiger in the field than not! He was also 2 2/3 times more likely top have a top five finish with Tiger in the field. Given his often "go for broke" style of play, it's not too surprising that when he's out of contention, the "Tiger effect" isn't nearly as pronounced for Phil as shown by the median finishes of 14.5 with Tiger in the field vs. 19.0 without the world's #1 player amongst the competitors.
The bottom line based on the numbers of the past two plus years is that Tiger seems to inspire Phil's play. When Phil is near the top of the leaderboard, he's a MUCH better and more focused player and much more likely to place in the top 5 and/or win!
Showing posts with label Phil Mickelson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil Mickelson. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Appleby Ends Lefty's Week
The fans at this week's Accenture Match Play Championship were hoping that against all odds, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods would wind up facing off against each other in Sunday's 36 hole finale. The hopes for a battle between the world's two tip ranked players was thwarted though. "Lefty" played very well today against Stuart Appleby in his second round match, but unfortunately it wasn't good enough as the Aussie was even better. Mickelson lost 2-and-1 to Appleby despite making six birdies and an eagle. Appleby made nine birdies in his 17 holes of play, including one on the final hole to end the match. As for Woods, he had a relatively easy time against Arron Oberholser getting to 4-up after 11 holes, and then cruising to a 3-and-2 win with a par on 16.
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Lefty Seeing 3's!
Coming into this week, Phil Mickelson had won 32 tournaments in his PGA Tour career. At 11-under par, "Lefty" carried a one stroke lead over Jeff Quinney going into Sunday's final round of the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
The match-play like battle between "Lefty" and Quinney was remarkably similar to Saturday's duel. Mickelson entered Saturday's round with a four stroke lead, only to briefly lose the lead to Quinney within six holes, regaining it and then carrying the lead a short time later. On Sunday, Mickelson extended his lead to three strokes by the third hole as he birdied the first and Quinney bogeyed the third. Quinney came storming back though as birdies on six and eight got him to within a stroke of the lead. Mickelson bogeyed the ninth hole, while Quinney rolled in another birdie to take the lead at 12-under par. Just like on Saturday though, Quinney's lead was short-lived. "Lefty" birdied the 10th hole to tie for the lead. Both players birdied the 11th to get to 13-under par. On the 13th hole, Quinney's magical putter finally deserted him as he three-putted for the first time all year for a bogey. Bogeys followed at the next two holes and on the 17th. Mickelson gave one back himself on the 15th, but with Quinney's misstep on 17, it was all but over entering 18. Quinney did manage to birdie that hole, while Mickelson parred to finish the tournament at 12-under par and a two stroke win. For Mickelson, it was his 33rd career victory on the PGA Tour. Will Phil mount another charge at Tiger Woods this year for the #1 spot in the World Rankings? With a win, a second and a sixth place finish already on his 2008 resume, perhaps the answer is YES!
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The match-play like battle between "Lefty" and Quinney was remarkably similar to Saturday's duel. Mickelson entered Saturday's round with a four stroke lead, only to briefly lose the lead to Quinney within six holes, regaining it and then carrying the lead a short time later. On Sunday, Mickelson extended his lead to three strokes by the third hole as he birdied the first and Quinney bogeyed the third. Quinney came storming back though as birdies on six and eight got him to within a stroke of the lead. Mickelson bogeyed the ninth hole, while Quinney rolled in another birdie to take the lead at 12-under par. Just like on Saturday though, Quinney's lead was short-lived. "Lefty" birdied the 10th hole to tie for the lead. Both players birdied the 11th to get to 13-under par. On the 13th hole, Quinney's magical putter finally deserted him as he three-putted for the first time all year for a bogey. Bogeys followed at the next two holes and on the 17th. Mickelson gave one back himself on the 15th, but with Quinney's misstep on 17, it was all but over entering 18. Quinney did manage to birdie that hole, while Mickelson parred to finish the tournament at 12-under par and a two stroke win. For Mickelson, it was his 33rd career victory on the PGA Tour. Will Phil mount another charge at Tiger Woods this year for the #1 spot in the World Rankings? With a win, a second and a sixth place finish already on his 2008 resume, perhaps the answer is YES!
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Saturday, February 16, 2008
Phil Thrills at Riviera
When Tiger Woods has his "A Game" or even his "B Game," watching a golf tournament in which he is competing can get downright boring - unless you're Tiger of course. Tiger is not playing in this weekend's Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club here in Pacific Palisades, CA. So for one weekend at least, the world's #2 player Phil Mickelson and everyone else will have a fair shot at getting a W.
Fortunately for the L.A. golf fans, there have been several "Phil the Thrill" Mickelson sightings the past three days. Despite several erratic drives and iron shots, "Lefty" shot a one-under par 70 today to reach 11 under-par, taking a one stroke lead over Jeff Quinney going into the final round. Quinney started the day four strokes back, but actually briefly took the lead after birdieing two of his first five holes and then holing his tee shot on the 163 yard par-3 6th hole. Mickelson bogeyed the fourth hole, but then reclaimed a share of the lead with a birdie of his own on the 6th. Mickelson reclaimed sole possession of the lead on the par-5 11th hole as he birdies and Quinney bogeyed. The Mickelson lead remained two strokes until Quinney drained a 35-foot birdie put on the 18th hole. Final round coverage begins tomorrow at 3:00 ET/12 noon PT on your local CBS affiliate.
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Fortunately for the L.A. golf fans, there have been several "Phil the Thrill" Mickelson sightings the past three days. Despite several erratic drives and iron shots, "Lefty" shot a one-under par 70 today to reach 11 under-par, taking a one stroke lead over Jeff Quinney going into the final round. Quinney started the day four strokes back, but actually briefly took the lead after birdieing two of his first five holes and then holing his tee shot on the 163 yard par-3 6th hole. Mickelson bogeyed the fourth hole, but then reclaimed a share of the lead with a birdie of his own on the 6th. Mickelson reclaimed sole possession of the lead on the par-5 11th hole as he birdies and Quinney bogeyed. The Mickelson lead remained two strokes until Quinney drained a 35-foot birdie put on the 18th hole. Final round coverage begins tomorrow at 3:00 ET/12 noon PT on your local CBS affiliate.
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tiger on Cruise Control at Buick
For a brief moment of yesterday's Buick Invitational, Phil Mickelson made a charge to get within five strokes of Tiger Woods. "Lefty" shot a 6-under par 30 on the back nine at Torrey Pines to get to 7-under par for the tournament. He struggled on his final nine though, shooting a 2-over 38 for a 4-under par 68 total. At five under par, Phil now finds himself 13 strokes back of Tiger. The world's #1 player shot a bogey-free 6-under par 66 to get to 18-under par, and an amazing eight strokes ahead of Stewart Cink and the rest of the field. Tiger's 62nd career win (to tie Arnold Palmer for 4th on the all-time list) is almost a foregone conclusion, the only question is the weather. There's a 90% chance of rain for the San Diego area today. So, round four may or may not be finishing today. A rare Monday finish may be in the cards. Weather permitting, live coverage of the final round starts on your local CBS affiliate at 3PM ET/12 noon PT.
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Friday, January 25, 2008
Getting My Phil of Tiger
Thankfully, neither Phil Mickelson nor Tiger Woods played either of the past two weeks when I was not watching the Golf Channel. This week marks what most would call the official start of the season as both Phil and Tiger are playing at this weekend's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA (not far from San Diego). Woods got off to a good start, shooting a 5-under par score of 67 to finish the day tied for third, two strokes behind first round leader Troy Matteson. Mickelson wasn't too bad himself, shooting a 2-under par 70 to finish the day tied for 21st. Not bad for a guy fighting a respiratory infection. You can watch three hours of live coverage of the remainder of the second round starting at 3PM ET/12 PM PT today on the Golf Channel, and over the weekend on CBS.
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Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Garret Anderson EN FUEGO!
Another day, another Garret Anderson home run, another Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels win! It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but this is good news if you happen to be an Angels fan or where fortunate enough to grab "G.A." in your fantasy league when he first started getting hot. With a 4-3 win last night, the Angels have now won seven of their past nine games and opened up a 7 1/2 game lead in the American League West race. Over that nine game stretch, G.A.'s been nothing short of amazing - 6 home runs, 17 RBI's, 10 runs scored, and even a stolen base to go along with a .438 batting average!!! If you go back to cover his past 14 games, he has 8 home runs and 27 RBI's!!! Actually, G.A.'s been an absolute RBI machine for about the past month and a half - in his 45 games beginning July 19th, he has hit .293 with 11 home runs and 52 RBI's to go along with 27 runs scored. For those of you other numbers fiends out there, that's a 187 RBI pace!!! - Incredibly, that RBI pace is still short of the 191 that Hack Wilson put up in 1930 in only 154 games! Just shows you how truly great that 1930 season of Wilson's was.
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After a very difficult stretch where they lost 11 of 12 games, the Los Angeles Dodgers have suddenly seen their fortunes change. Brad Penny bobbed and weaved through seven innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago, allowing only one earned run despite giving up seven hits and three walks. Penny was clearly not at his best as he only struck out two batters, but he made good pitches when it counted, inducing the Cubs to ground into three double plays. Matt Kemp continued his hot hitting, going 4-for-5 to raise his batting average to .344. Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito contined to pitch masterfully in the closing innings, each pitching a scoreless frame to secure Penny's 16th win on the year. Broxton now has a 2.13 ERA on the year, while Saito's ERA is a microscopic 1.31. Saito has a reasonable chance of breaking Eric Gagne's Dodger record ERA for a closer of 1.20 which was set in 2003. With their 13th win in their past 19 games, the Dodgers are now within just three games of the Arizona Dimaondbacks and San Diego Padres for the National League West division lead and Wild Card spot. The Dodgers looked hopelessly out of things just three weeks ago... Now, they look like they just might indeed be the playoff team we saw during the early part of the season.
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Meanwhile, back on the other coast, the Washington Nationals continue to demonstrate the resilency which has marked their first season under manager, Manny Acta. After a horrific second half of August, which saw them lose 12 of 15 games, including the final seven, the Nats came into yesterday's game against the Florida Marlins in the midst of a three game winning streak. Shawn Hill pitched an effective 6 1/3 innings for the Nats, allowing three runs and eleven hits, walking none and striking out six. Unfortunately for Hill, he left the game without a chance to win as Dontrelle Willis kept the Nats in check for seven innings, only allowing single runs in the first and third innings. Willis got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as with one out, Nook Logan doubled and Felipe Lopez singled. Lee Gardner was then summoned from the Marlins pen and promptly got Ryan Zimmerman to hit a line drive right at the second baseman Alfredo Amezega, who doubled Lopez off of first...
Chris Schroeder pitched a scoreless ninth for the Nats, and the Marlins would then bring on their closer Kevin Gregg. Gregg has been a pleasant surprise for the Marlins this year, closing 28 games in 30 opportunities. Given his 93% success rate, the Nats chances at winning seemed slim at best. Gregg immediately got into trouble though as he walked leadoff man Dmitri Young. Ryan Langerhans (yes, he cleared waivers) then pinch ran for Da' Meathook... After an Austin Kearns strikeout, Wily Mo Pena singled to put Nats at first and third. Ronnie Belliard then fouled out weakly to first, and that set the stage for Jesus Flores. Earlier in the game, Flores dropped not one, but two foul pop-ups. While they didn't have any impact in the game, they did force a few extra pitches to be thrown. Flores then lined a ball deep to left field chasing home both Langerhans and the slow footed Pena to give the Nats an improbable come-from-behind 4-3 win!
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In other sports news, Phil Mickelson announced he will not play in this week's FedEx Cup event - Tiger Woods and Ernie Els had missed prior events. Perhaps tour commissioner Tim Finchem needs to listen to the tour's players a little more - it's a huge revenue and ratings loss when one of the big names isn't there. Maybe next year he will cut back on the pro-am tournaments that are part of the series and also spread out the tournaments so that the players can have a little more time with their families as their children begin the school year.
At the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York, there will be no "battle of the sisters" as Serena Williams was ousted by #1 seed Justin Henin by a 7-6, 6-1 score... #3 seed Jelena Jankovic takes on the 12th seeded Venus tonight, the winner will get to take on Henin... On the men's side, #2 Rafael Nadal was upset by #15 seed David Ferrer in four sets by a 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 score. Tonight, the much awaited feature match pits #1 seed Roger Federer against #5 Andy Roddick. We all hope A-Rod can win, but he's been unable to do much against Tiger's buddy Federer the past several years...
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After a very difficult stretch where they lost 11 of 12 games, the Los Angeles Dodgers have suddenly seen their fortunes change. Brad Penny bobbed and weaved through seven innings at Wrigley Field in Chicago, allowing only one earned run despite giving up seven hits and three walks. Penny was clearly not at his best as he only struck out two batters, but he made good pitches when it counted, inducing the Cubs to ground into three double plays. Matt Kemp continued his hot hitting, going 4-for-5 to raise his batting average to .344. Jonathan Broxton and Takeshi Saito contined to pitch masterfully in the closing innings, each pitching a scoreless frame to secure Penny's 16th win on the year. Broxton now has a 2.13 ERA on the year, while Saito's ERA is a microscopic 1.31. Saito has a reasonable chance of breaking Eric Gagne's Dodger record ERA for a closer of 1.20 which was set in 2003. With their 13th win in their past 19 games, the Dodgers are now within just three games of the Arizona Dimaondbacks and San Diego Padres for the National League West division lead and Wild Card spot. The Dodgers looked hopelessly out of things just three weeks ago... Now, they look like they just might indeed be the playoff team we saw during the early part of the season.
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Meanwhile, back on the other coast, the Washington Nationals continue to demonstrate the resilency which has marked their first season under manager, Manny Acta. After a horrific second half of August, which saw them lose 12 of 15 games, including the final seven, the Nats came into yesterday's game against the Florida Marlins in the midst of a three game winning streak. Shawn Hill pitched an effective 6 1/3 innings for the Nats, allowing three runs and eleven hits, walking none and striking out six. Unfortunately for Hill, he left the game without a chance to win as Dontrelle Willis kept the Nats in check for seven innings, only allowing single runs in the first and third innings. Willis got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as with one out, Nook Logan doubled and Felipe Lopez singled. Lee Gardner was then summoned from the Marlins pen and promptly got Ryan Zimmerman to hit a line drive right at the second baseman Alfredo Amezega, who doubled Lopez off of first...
Chris Schroeder pitched a scoreless ninth for the Nats, and the Marlins would then bring on their closer Kevin Gregg. Gregg has been a pleasant surprise for the Marlins this year, closing 28 games in 30 opportunities. Given his 93% success rate, the Nats chances at winning seemed slim at best. Gregg immediately got into trouble though as he walked leadoff man Dmitri Young. Ryan Langerhans (yes, he cleared waivers) then pinch ran for Da' Meathook... After an Austin Kearns strikeout, Wily Mo Pena singled to put Nats at first and third. Ronnie Belliard then fouled out weakly to first, and that set the stage for Jesus Flores. Earlier in the game, Flores dropped not one, but two foul pop-ups. While they didn't have any impact in the game, they did force a few extra pitches to be thrown. Flores then lined a ball deep to left field chasing home both Langerhans and the slow footed Pena to give the Nats an improbable come-from-behind 4-3 win!
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In other sports news, Phil Mickelson announced he will not play in this week's FedEx Cup event - Tiger Woods and Ernie Els had missed prior events. Perhaps tour commissioner Tim Finchem needs to listen to the tour's players a little more - it's a huge revenue and ratings loss when one of the big names isn't there. Maybe next year he will cut back on the pro-am tournaments that are part of the series and also spread out the tournaments so that the players can have a little more time with their families as their children begin the school year.
At the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York, there will be no "battle of the sisters" as Serena Williams was ousted by #1 seed Justin Henin by a 7-6, 6-1 score... #3 seed Jelena Jankovic takes on the 12th seeded Venus tonight, the winner will get to take on Henin... On the men's side, #2 Rafael Nadal was upset by #15 seed David Ferrer in four sets by a 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 score. Tonight, the much awaited feature match pits #1 seed Roger Federer against #5 Andy Roddick. We all hope A-Rod can win, but he's been unable to do much against Tiger's buddy Federer the past several years...
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Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Phil Thrills @ Deutsch Bank!!
The last time that Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were paired in the final round of a tournament it was a truly epic battle - a "mano a mano" effort at the Doral Open in March 2005, as Tiger prevailed over Phil by one stroke. In that tournament, Phil took a two stroke lead into the final round. Tiger and Phil exchanged the lead several times before Tiger pulled away at the end for a 2-stroke victory. Tiger shot a 66 to Phil's 69. On Labor Day, the fans finally got their wish... and believe me, it more than lived up to the hype!!
There was a little bit of an added twist in yesterday's final round of the Deutsch Bank tournament in Boston though as neither of the world's top two players took the lead into the final round. They were chasing Brett Wetterlich and Arron Oberholser. Wetterlich began the day at 13-under-par, carrying a one stroke lead over Oberholser, a two stroke lead over Phil, and a three stroke lead over both Tiger and Aaron Baddeley. Oberholser birdied the first hole and Wetterlich bogeyed the second hole to flip-flop positions. Most of us watching though just knew that it would only be a matter of time before Phil and/or Tiger would take over the lead. Sure enough, that would happen. A birdie on the 2nd, consecutive birdies on the 4th and 5th, followed by yet another birdie on the 7th pushed Phil to 15-under-par and a three stroke lead over Woods, Oberholser and Wetterlich. Tiger would then bogey the 9th hole to fall four back.
Phil's margin would grow to four strokes as he birdied the 10th hole. Olersholser would quickly answer with his own birdie on the 10th to get back within three. Tiger was now five strokes back and the tournament was now seemingly Phil's to lose. There's a good reason why Phil is often called "Phil the Thrill"... twice this weekend we got examples of this. On Friday, he was cruising along at 3-under-par before an errant tee shot and a couple of ill-advised hacks out of the rough left him with a triple-bogey 7 on the par four 9th hole. Yesterday, Phil's approach shot on the 12th hole was short and right. After a penalty drop, he nearly holed his 4th shot for a par as the ball hit the pin and rolled eight feet away. Phil would miss the bogey putt and suddenly his lead over Oberholser was down to one. Tiger lurked three back as did the steady Wetterlich who had a stretch of 12 straight pars after his early bogey.
On the 14th hole, Tiger rolled in a long birdie putt to draw within two. On the par-3 16th, Tiger hit a very nice shot to within eight feet of the hole. Mickelson came right back with an approach to within five feet. Both made their birdie putts. Oberholser would answer with a birdie of his own on 16 to get within a stroke again. Wetterlich broke his drought with a birdie of his own at 16 to get into a tie with Tiger.
Finally, the marquee pairing made it to the 18th hole... the ovations were loud and thunderous - as you'd expect for the tours two most popular players. Tiger would reach the green in two shots, while Phil's approach found some heavy rough to the left of the green. All day long - actually all week long, Phil was able to extricate himself out of trouble without any damage other than the two aforementioned occasions. Phil hit a brilliant pitch to within four feet of the hole. Tiger's long thirty-foot eagle put would stop a foot short of the hole. He tapped it in to temporarily pull within a stroke of Phil. The flatstick was Phil's friend all day as he only needed 23 putts on the day, sealing the effort by making his putt to close out his round of 66. Oberholser would have to eagle the hole to tie Phil, but his approach found the left rough and he settled for par. Wetterlich would birdie the hole to wind up in a tie for second with Tiger and Oberholser.
For the two stars that many used to call adversaries, there is now clearly a mutual respect in both camps... Tiger was quoted as saying "I think it was fun for both of us" while Phil made mention that he'd love to give the fans what they really want - a battle between the two in the final round of a major. Hopefully, next year we will get that wish. In the meantime, we will have to settle for showdowns such as yesterday's... and that isn't all bad!
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The other big story yesterday - well of course it was the return of Pedro Martinez for the New York Mets! In addition to notching his 3,000th strikeout yesterday, Pedro would make 76 pitches and go five innings. Pedro scattered five hits and walked three, giving up two earned runs while striking out four. The Mets would give him plenty of offense and the bullpen was more than adequate as Pedro's historic day was also a victorious one in a 10-4 decision over the Cincinnati Reds. Afterwards, Pedro was just happy to "feel healthy." For those like me that have followed his major league career since day one, it was very satisfying to see Pedro back and pitching effectively!
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Time for a little tennis now... Roger Federer had a little scare yesterday at the U.S. Open before he won an incredible 35 straight points over a nine game stretch on his serve. Federer lost the first set to Feliciano Lopez 6-3 before rallying and taking the final three sets. Federer will face the 2003 Open champion and America's best player, Andy Roddick in tomrrow's quarter finals. A-Rod won a tough first set tie-breaker against Tomas Berdych... Berdych then started having breathing problems and was forced to retire while down 2-0 in the second set. In today's feature matches on the men's side, #2 Rafael Nadal takes on David Ferrer, while #3 Novak Djokovic faces Juan Monaco. The women's side of the draw remains interesting in spite of the early exit of Maria Sharapova. #1 Justin Henin will take on Serena Williams, while #3 Jelena Jankovic takes on Serena's sister, Venus. If the two sisters happen to both pull off upsets, they would meet in the semi-finals.
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There was a little bit of an added twist in yesterday's final round of the Deutsch Bank tournament in Boston though as neither of the world's top two players took the lead into the final round. They were chasing Brett Wetterlich and Arron Oberholser. Wetterlich began the day at 13-under-par, carrying a one stroke lead over Oberholser, a two stroke lead over Phil, and a three stroke lead over both Tiger and Aaron Baddeley. Oberholser birdied the first hole and Wetterlich bogeyed the second hole to flip-flop positions. Most of us watching though just knew that it would only be a matter of time before Phil and/or Tiger would take over the lead. Sure enough, that would happen. A birdie on the 2nd, consecutive birdies on the 4th and 5th, followed by yet another birdie on the 7th pushed Phil to 15-under-par and a three stroke lead over Woods, Oberholser and Wetterlich. Tiger would then bogey the 9th hole to fall four back.
Phil's margin would grow to four strokes as he birdied the 10th hole. Olersholser would quickly answer with his own birdie on the 10th to get back within three. Tiger was now five strokes back and the tournament was now seemingly Phil's to lose. There's a good reason why Phil is often called "Phil the Thrill"... twice this weekend we got examples of this. On Friday, he was cruising along at 3-under-par before an errant tee shot and a couple of ill-advised hacks out of the rough left him with a triple-bogey 7 on the par four 9th hole. Yesterday, Phil's approach shot on the 12th hole was short and right. After a penalty drop, he nearly holed his 4th shot for a par as the ball hit the pin and rolled eight feet away. Phil would miss the bogey putt and suddenly his lead over Oberholser was down to one. Tiger lurked three back as did the steady Wetterlich who had a stretch of 12 straight pars after his early bogey.
On the 14th hole, Tiger rolled in a long birdie putt to draw within two. On the par-3 16th, Tiger hit a very nice shot to within eight feet of the hole. Mickelson came right back with an approach to within five feet. Both made their birdie putts. Oberholser would answer with a birdie of his own on 16 to get within a stroke again. Wetterlich broke his drought with a birdie of his own at 16 to get into a tie with Tiger.
Finally, the marquee pairing made it to the 18th hole... the ovations were loud and thunderous - as you'd expect for the tours two most popular players. Tiger would reach the green in two shots, while Phil's approach found some heavy rough to the left of the green. All day long - actually all week long, Phil was able to extricate himself out of trouble without any damage other than the two aforementioned occasions. Phil hit a brilliant pitch to within four feet of the hole. Tiger's long thirty-foot eagle put would stop a foot short of the hole. He tapped it in to temporarily pull within a stroke of Phil. The flatstick was Phil's friend all day as he only needed 23 putts on the day, sealing the effort by making his putt to close out his round of 66. Oberholser would have to eagle the hole to tie Phil, but his approach found the left rough and he settled for par. Wetterlich would birdie the hole to wind up in a tie for second with Tiger and Oberholser.
For the two stars that many used to call adversaries, there is now clearly a mutual respect in both camps... Tiger was quoted as saying "I think it was fun for both of us" while Phil made mention that he'd love to give the fans what they really want - a battle between the two in the final round of a major. Hopefully, next year we will get that wish. In the meantime, we will have to settle for showdowns such as yesterday's... and that isn't all bad!
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The other big story yesterday - well of course it was the return of Pedro Martinez for the New York Mets! In addition to notching his 3,000th strikeout yesterday, Pedro would make 76 pitches and go five innings. Pedro scattered five hits and walked three, giving up two earned runs while striking out four. The Mets would give him plenty of offense and the bullpen was more than adequate as Pedro's historic day was also a victorious one in a 10-4 decision over the Cincinnati Reds. Afterwards, Pedro was just happy to "feel healthy." For those like me that have followed his major league career since day one, it was very satisfying to see Pedro back and pitching effectively!
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Time for a little tennis now... Roger Federer had a little scare yesterday at the U.S. Open before he won an incredible 35 straight points over a nine game stretch on his serve. Federer lost the first set to Feliciano Lopez 6-3 before rallying and taking the final three sets. Federer will face the 2003 Open champion and America's best player, Andy Roddick in tomrrow's quarter finals. A-Rod won a tough first set tie-breaker against Tomas Berdych... Berdych then started having breathing problems and was forced to retire while down 2-0 in the second set. In today's feature matches on the men's side, #2 Rafael Nadal takes on David Ferrer, while #3 Novak Djokovic faces Juan Monaco. The women's side of the draw remains interesting in spite of the early exit of Maria Sharapova. #1 Justin Henin will take on Serena Williams, while #3 Jelena Jankovic takes on Serena's sister, Venus. If the two sisters happen to both pull off upsets, they would meet in the semi-finals.
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