Vincent Publishing - Index

Vincent Publishing - 2008 Northern Trust Open - Index

There was only three feet between Charles Howell III and the door he wanted
to close on the demons he had previously seen at the Riviera Country Club. He
made the putt and slammed the door with an improbable playoff victory over
Phil Mickelson at last year’s tournament.
Howell had gone four years and accumulated nine
runner-up finishes since his lone PGA TOUR victory.
At almost every turn on Sunday, he was confronted
with many of his past failures — the putts
he had missed, the 10th hole at Riviera that denied him victory
in 2003, and a chip that cost him a win a month earlier
in Honolulu.
He erased those memories with three clutch pars in the
playoff, the last one aided by a solid chip to three feet and
a putt that felt more like 30.
Four shots down at the turn, Howell closed with a 6-under
65. He stared down Mickelson in the longest playoff at
Riviera in 25 years until Mickelson blinked first, missing a
10-foot par try on the par-3 14th.
“I had every chance on the back nine to create some separation
and not give anyone a chance,” said Mickelson, who
twice missed putts inside four feet and closed with a 68. “I
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2008 OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT MAGAZINE
felt like I had the tournament in my grasp and let it go.”
Coming off a five-shot victory at Pebble Beach where he
tied a tournament scoring record, Mickelson was poised to
get in the Riviera record books until he stumbled along the
back nine. He missed a two-foot par putt on the 13th and
then misplayed a four-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to
fall into a share of the lead.
Needing a par to win, he came up short on the 18th, hitting
a pedestrian chip to 18 feet and taking bogey.
“I had the tournament in control,” Mickelson said. “It happens.
It’s part of the game.”
They finished at 16-under 268.
Ernie Els (67), Jim Furyk (67) and Robert Allenby (68) tied
for third, three shots out of the playoff. Sergio Garcia finished
at 11-under while first-round leader Padraig
Harrington was another stroke back.
THE LONGEST
BY JIM CHIAFFREDO