BUICK NOTES
LA JOLLA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson walked away from his latest disappointing loss to Tiger Woods feeling good about himself yesterday despite failing to close the gap on the world’s No. 1 player.
“I actually learned a couple things out there,” Mickelson, the No. 3 ranked player in the world, said after shooting a nondescript even-par 72 to finish six shots behind Woods. “I learned that there are areas of my game that I’ve improved on and areas where I need improvement.
“I thought that heading into the day I was in for a tough battle, not just because Tiger is as good as he is, but because heading into this week I hadn’t been driving the ball well or putting well. I felt like I was fighting it all week.
“To go against the best player in the world and spot him two shots [Tiger’s lead at the beginning of the final round], I knew I was fighting an uphill battle.”
Mickelson said he knew he was out of it when he bogeyed 11 and 12. By then his driver had been errant for a number of holes and he couldn’t nail any putts.
Asked if he felt badly for Mickelson, PGA Tour rookie Arron Oberholser, who finished fourth, said, “Do I empathize with Phil? Not when I look at his bank account. But I do understand what he went through out there.”
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More often than not yesterday, Mickelson was living up to his controversial comments about Woods’ equipment, out-driving Tiger often.
But Woods made it a point to praise his own driving as “the difference” in his victory.
“He flew it by me a couple times, but I hit more fairways when I needed to,” Woods said. “My driving was a big reason why I won the tournament. I drove it well and drove it straight. I felt it was more important to keep the ball in play.”
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Brad Faxon revealed yesterday that, during a PGA Tour players’ meeting last Tuesday, Mickelson got up and apologized to all the players for his controversial comments about Woods’ equipment.
“Phil came into the meeting and made an apology to the players and talked to Tiger and said he messed up,” Faxon said. “I think Phil was being sincere. Tiger was gracious about it, too, the way he accepted the apology.”
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A potential rising star was born this week in Oberholser, who spent most of the week near the top of the leaderboard in the fourth PGA Tour start of his career.
Oberholser, a collegiate rival of Woods’, shot 1-under yesterday and tied for fourth at 10-under for the week. Yesterday was his first real taste of in-contention Sunday pressure on the Tour.
“This like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “This is why I signed up to do this. It was really cool to play like this in my fourth PGA Tour start.”