LA JOLLA, Calif. – Bring on Ernie Els.
Maybe he can raise Tiger Woods’ blood pressure, put a scare into the world’s best player or at least make Woods sweat a little bit.
If we learned one thing out of Woods’ cruise-control victory at the Buick Invitational yesterday, it’s that Phil Mickelson isn’t truly the Woods rival the golf world has built him up to be.
Sure, Mickelson – talented beyond most people’s wildest dreams – from time to tantalizing time flashes that brilliance that makes you think he can derail Woods.
But in the end, those Mickelson flashes are just that – fleeting moments – and the results are becoming monotonously the same with Woods defeating Mickelson.
Woods doesn’t fear Mickelson in the least. How much he even respects Mickelson, particularly after Mickelson’s recent joking comments on his equipment, is uncertain.
When Woods was asked yesterday if it was a little sweeter to win with Mickelson in the final group in the wake of his comments, Woods began a bland answer by saying, “To be honest, Phil and I haven’t played a whole lot together in a final group or any group … “
“That wasn’t my question,” the reporter interrupted.
“I know,” Woods said with a smirk. “But I’m answering it my way.”
There wasn’t a moment in yesterday’s final round when Mickelson gave you the idea that he had either the game or the gumption to defeat Woods.
That’s why we crave Els, whose record-setting 10-shot victory in the Johnny Walker Classic was his fifth tournament victory in six starts this year (with the only non-win a second-place result).
Els has Woods’ attention. The first chance they’ll meet comes in two weeks at the World Match Play at La Costa, but they’d only meet if they each reached the final, which is unlikely given the uncertainty of match play.
The next possibility is at the Bay Hill Invitational March 17-23. They’ll definitely compete in the Players Championship at Sawgrass March 24-30 and then at the Masters in April.
With his $810,000 winner’s check yesterday, Woods significantly cut into Els’ lead in the PGA Tour money list, something Woods has won the last four years and five of the last six. But Els still has a $1 million lead.
Woods’ victory yesterday marked the 27th time in 29 PGA Tour tournaments in which he’s entered the final round with at least a share of the lead that he’s closed the deal and won the event. Worldwide, he’s 31-4 protecting a lead in the final round.
Those numbers make Mariano Rivera look human.
“Even though Ernie Els is just playing ridiculously great golf, he’s still a notch below Tiger,” Arron Oberholser, the former collegiate rival of Woods’, was saying. “The guy [Woods] has been off a month and a half, he had knee surgery and still he dusted a strong field here this week.”
He didn’t dust Els, though.
“Ernie winning again is pretty impressive,” said Woods, who revealed that he watched Els’ win at the Johnny Walker on the Golf Channel.
Things are going great for Woods, Els and the game of golf at the moment, as evidenced by the electric week the Buick Invitational provided with the return of Woods.
Things, though, will get a lot better when Woods and Els are going at each other on the same golf course. Maybe then we’ll see someone close the gap on Woods.
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NO SURPRISE
A look at how Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson fared yesterday during final round of Buick Invitational:
Woods’ card
Hole /1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ OUT/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ IN/ TOT/
Par/ 4/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 4/ 5/ 4/ 3/ 5/ 36/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 4/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 36/ 72/
Rnd/ 4/ 3/ 3/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 3/ 5/ 34/ 4/ 2 4/ 5/ 4/ 3/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 34/ 68/
Eagles – 0
Birdies – 5
Bogeys – 1
Others – 0
Putts – 28
Fairways – 9
Greens – 14
Score – 68
*
Mickelson’s card
Hole /1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ OUT/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ IN/ TOT/
Par/ 4/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 4/ 5/ 4/ 3/ 5/ 36/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 4/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 36/ 72/
Rnd/ 4/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 4/ 5/ 4/ 3/ 5/ 36/ 4/ 4/ 5/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 36/ 72/
Eagles – 0
Birdies – 2
Bogeys – 2
Others – 0
Putts – 30
Fairways – 6
Greens – 12
Score – 72