News flash: Professional golf’s so-called
savior of the moment will make his overdue return to the PGA Tour
on Jan. 28 at the San Diego Open at Torrey Pines, where he has
multiple victories.
No, not him.
Phil Mickelson.
Lefty’s return can’t come fast enough for Tim
Finchem and his Tiger-less Tour. The good news for Camp Ponte Vedra
and golf followers is that Mickelson will play in five consecutive
Tour events starting in his hometown of San Diego.
The better news for buzz junkies is that Mickelson has
excelled at four of those five venues. He has won three times at
Torrey, the past two Northern Trust Opens at Riviera, three times
at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and twice at the TPC
Scottsdale. Having finished 2-1-1 from 2007-09 at Riviera,
he’s bidding to become the first player to win there in three
consecutive years.
A Dave Stockton putting tip seemingly turned Mickelson into a
different player late last season, when he sandwiched a dominant
Presidents Cup with victories at the Tour Championship and HSBC
Champions.
Now apparently we’ll see a new Mickelson appearance.
He’s thinner, fitter, recharged and excited after changing
his exercise program and working out hard in the offseason,
according to an aide who had dinner with him the other day.
Tiger Woods hasn’t been seen in public since
The Hydrant Episode on Nov. 27, at least by TMZ.com, a tabloid
Rottweiler or a paparazzi lens. That Invisible Man act is almost as
remarkable as winning a U.S. Open on a broken leg.
I mean, the elusiveness makes Howard Hughes look like a
social mixer.
Woods is out of sight, but he shouldn’t be
out of the minds of his fellow players. Let’s take Geoff
Ogilvy, winner of the season-opening SBS Championship, as an
example.
Ogilvy now has won seven Tour titles, from 2005 to ’10.
He has 45 top 10s, a decent haul but nothing special. Yet he has
won a remarkable $21.3 million in official earnings, 19th on the
career list.
Though Woods isn’t the ideal husband, he is the ideal
rainmaker when it comes to putting money in other players’
pockets. Purses have gone up more than $210 million since he turned
pro.
While Woods catches grief from others, he should get
thank-you cards with autographed checks from his brethren.
I’m not sure how Woods will perform whenever
he returns. I suspect well, considering he has won more than 50
percent of his Tour starts since July 2006 and probably will play
with a large chip on his shoulder.
But I can confidently predict this: Someone somewhere in some
gallery will be ushered off the grounds and you will read stories
about spectator decorum, or lack thereof.
And when will he return? The dog is wagging the
tail here. He’ll return once his personal life is sorted out
(read: marital closure one way or another) and he gets in enough
practice.
You can correctly surmise I disagree with Colin
Montgomerie, who recently said of Woods’ woes: “I think
the mystique is gone ... It gives us more opportunity to find ways
of winning these events now, and I’m thinking of myself as
well as my peers.”
Monty needs to think again. The opportunity it gives other
players is the same kind Woods’ wounded-knee absence did in
2008-09.
It’s easier to win without him around.
The current U.S. Ryder Cup points list (based on
2009 majors) features Tom Watson at No. 6 and Ricky Barnes and
David Duval at T-8.
I’m no soothsayer or weatherman, but that humorous
arrangement will last as long as a summer afternoon storm in
Florida.
Greg Norman and Chris Evert filed for divorce a
couple of days ago. That story and the Woods mess have one big
thing in common.
Ego.
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a
dozen times from veteran PGA Tour players: Young guys will have a
harder time adjusting to the new grooves than veterans who have
used them in the past.
So keep an eye on the kids, starting this week at the Sony
Open in Hawaii, where four new members (Blake Adams, Troy Merritt,
Brian Stuard and Jerod Turner) are making their first Tour start
and a dozen others will make their first start as a member.
It will be interesting to see how the money list
changes as result of the new grooves. Theoretically, the new
grooves will put more of a premium on driving accuracy, never a big
indicator of money won.
In 2009, only two players in the top 10 in Tour earnings
(Zach Johnson and Jim Furyk) finished better than 49th in hitting
fairways.
Bottom line from any era: The great players always seem to
figure things out.
Six-time Tour winner Adam Scott turns 30 in July.
If nothing else changes, that would leave Sean O’Hair as
leading Tour winner among players in their 20s.
He has three wins.
Beneath the Tour’s top rung, there’s parity if
not parody.
That could change this year with the likes of Rory
McIlroy (20) and Rickie Fowler (21) and the continued maturation of
O’Hair and a few others.
Fowler, a feel player and shotmaker who learned golf on a
public driving range without the aid of video equipment, makes his
debut as a Tour member this week. Asked Tuesday about his
expectations and goals, he said, “I expect myself to play
well, whether that means winning a few events or top-10s here and
there. I’ll try to go out without too many expectations and
have fun.”
Love the kid’s outlook and manner. Also like his
confidence about his ability to control the ball and shape shots.
“Not many young guys are coming out who hit a lot of
shots when they need to,” he said.
The 2009 majors’ losses are the 2010 Sony
Open’s gain. All four major winners are playing the Sony.
You probably will never read that last sentence again.
