GOLF:THE COMEBACK kids departed Pebble Beach with varying degrees of wellbeing. Whilst Phil Mickelson – finally bringing his shot-making from the practice range on to the course – had that smile of old back on his face after a thoroughly impressive final round that garnered him a 40th title on the US Tour and put him in good stead ahead of the US Masters, his long-time nemesis Tiger Woods had less to be smiling about.
Just as in Abu Dhabi just over a fortnight ago, Woods went into reverse in the final round. It’s just not what we expect of him, and to play in the shadow of Mickelson – as he did on Sunday at Pebble Beach – only served to show the one-time perennial world number one how much work needs to be done to get back to his former pre-eminence.
As for the other comeback kid? Well, Pádraig Harrington moved down the Californian coast for this week’s tour stop in Los Angeles with a great many positives: 1) he moved up the world rankings, from 93rd to 86th, although not sufficiently high to get into next week’s WGC-Accenture Matchplay in Arizona; 2) he showed his old fighting qualities in recovering from a horrible double-bogey seven to birdie four of his next five holes en route to a closing 70; 3) he shared the team pro-am title with JP McManus, a win of sorts if not the one he’d really, really wanted; and, 4) he could take inspiration from the deeds of Mickelson.
Harrington will miss out on the Accenture Matchplay but that’s not the end of the world. Indeed, Mickelson – who has risen to number 11 in the world rankings – has taken the decision to miss the Accenture, which opened the door for Ernie Els to get into the field.
As things stand, Harrington is also outside the qualifying for the next WGC event – the Cadillac Championship in a fortnight’s time – and, just as he required at Pebble Beach, will probably need a win or possibly a solo runner-up finish in this week’s Los Angeles Open at Riviera if he is to break into the world’s top-50 and nail down a place in the field at Doral.
Missing out on the WGCs will affect Harrington’s bid to claim a place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team, as they are considered easy points. Harrington currently stands 37th on both qualifying tables for the Ryder Cup and has acknowledged: “I haven’t got very many points. It’s not going to be a year that I can play well and get into it. I’m going to have to play great to get into the team. I’m not going to be able to pick up easy points and qualify that way. I’m going to have to actually play well to force my way in.”
Who knows? Maybe the feel-good factor of teaming-up with McManus to share the team title in the pro-am will give him a spur. As McManus said afterwards of Harrington’s contribution, birdying the 17th and saving par from a bunker on the 18th to enable them to co-win the pro-am and add the title to their Dunhill Links successes, “I never doubted Pádraig that he would get it up-and-down (on the finishing hole)”.
The big winner, of course, was Mickelson who – like Harrington – has moved on to the Los Angeles Open. What made Mickelson’s win all the sweeter, closing out with a final round 64 for 269 and a two-shot winning margin over Charlie Wi, was he went shoulder-to-shoulder with Woods and showed him who was boss.
What is it that playing with/against Woods brings out the best in Mickelson? “I just seem more focused. I know that his level of play is so much greater when he’s playing his best than anybody else’s, that it just forces me to focus on my game more intently and hit more precise shots,” responded Mickelson.
Of the impact of Woods on his game, Mickelson added: “I’m very appreciative of what he’s meant to the game of golf over the years. I don’t believe anybody has benefited more from what he’s done for the game than myself . . . I also am inspired playing with him.
“I think most people are but he seems to bring out the best in me. I’ve played some of my best golf playing with him and I really enjoy it. Watching him play, it looked so different than it has the last few years. It just never looked like he was going to hit a hook the way he had for a while. He was hitting it solid, you could tell his game was really close.”
More than that, the win – his first on tour since the Houston Open last April – reaffirmed Mickelson’s belief in his own game. He explained: “It’s one of the more emotional victories for me that I’ve had and the reason is, I’ve had some doubts these last couple of weeks . . . the scores I’ve shot, yet on the practice range, playing and practising, having these great practice sessions, I started to wonder if I’m going to be able to bring it to the golf course. So this gives me a lot of confidence and erases the doubt.”
While Harrington’s season will be based in the United States for the foreseeable future – his next outing in Europe won’t be until the BMW PGA at Wentworth in May – as he maps out an itinerary devoid of any WGC involvement for now, his Ryder Cup colleague Paul McGinley resumes tournament play at this week’s Avantha Masters in India. McGinley and Gareth Maybin are the only two Irish players in the field.
