Mickelson wins Northern Trust Open, successfully defends title
PGA Tour | 
Written by BigRed
After a disappointing start to his 2009 PGA Tour campaign with one missed cut and two tournaments outside the top 25, Phil Mickelson finally found his form with a thrilling victory at the Northern Trust Open.
Mickelson took everyone on a roller coaster ride as he shot rounds of 63-72-62-72 to win the tournament for the second consecutive year and by a single stroke over Steve Stricker.
During the first and third day of play, Mickelson showed the immaculate iron play and outstanding short game that won him three majors and 34 PGA Tour titles. However, on the other days we also got to see the Phil Mickelson who missed the cut at the FBR Open and struggled with all parts of his game during the early stages of the season.
Two days after Tiger Woods announced his comeback to the PGA Tour and Phil nearly equaled the course record at Riviera with a sparkling 62 that included one eagle and seven birdies, Mickelson started the final round with a seemingly comfortable four shot lead. It quickly looked as if Sunday was going to be nothing but peaches and cream after an eagle at the Par-5 first hole stretched the lead to five strokes. However, things mostly went downward from there on…
Mickelson followed with consecutive bogeys on two and three and dropped three further shots thru his first 14 holes. He temporarily lost the overall lead when Steve Stricker went birdie-par-birdie-birdie on holes 9 thru 12. Thankfully, Lefty managed to steady the ship after hitting a 9-iron within five feet on 16 and safely two-putting for birdie on the Par-5 17th.
After Stricker’s sloppy bogey on his final hole it was clear that a par on the 72nd hole would be enough for Phil to retain the trophy. After missing most of the fairways all day long with his driver, Mickelson found the short grass with his 3-wood and sealed the deal with a rather difficult five-footer for par.
Through the victory, Mickelson climbed to number three in the official world golf rankings and to number seven in the race for the 2009 FedEx Cup. His prize money was a mere $1,135,000 - nothing that a Wall Street banker would have cared about six months ago…
Here are Phil’s stats for the week:
| Driving Accuracy: | 55 % | Rank: T49 |
| Driving Distance: | 297 yds. | Rank: 11 |
| GIR: | 71 % | Rank: T9 |
| Putts per Round: | 27.8 | Rank: T25 |
| Sand Saves: | 40 % | Rank: T41 |
March 17th, 2009 at 2:00 am
hey, I’ve been a huge fan since he won his first tournament. Many a sunday have been spent on the couch with a cold one cheering on Phil. He has more class in his big toe than Tiger and nothing burns me more than when Phil shoots 65 and the first 3 highlights that night are of Tiger who shot 1 under that day. How about another Green Jacket this year? I know i’ll be watching.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Sorry to hear about your wife. My wife went thru this a few years back and has been cancer free since. It is a real shock when you first hear the news. I wish you both good luck.
You are real busy and I don’t need a reply, but again good luck.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
We wish Amy a very speedy recovery and cure and that she will be cancer free ASAP. We will pray for your full recovery and your entire family.