Vincent Publishing - Index

Vincent Publishing - 2008 Northern Trust Open - Index

PHOTO: STEVE GRAYSON/WIREIMAGE.COM
TOURNAMENT REVIEW
looked every bit as comfortable as the week prior at
Pebble Beach.
With so much emphasis on his improved driving, the key
had been making nearly every putt inside six feet. That’s
what cost him at Riviera, starting with a 30-inch miss on No.
12 for only his second bogey of the tournament and a sixfoot
par putt that missed so badly Mickelson slapped at his
blade right after hitting his putt.
Still, it wasn’t hard to find the silver lining on a cloudless day.
“I was tied for the lead yesterday. I’ve got a one-shot lead
today. So, it’s getting better,” Mickelson said. “It wasn’t the
lead I wanted, but it’s getting better.”
Howell III (69) was at 10-under 203, very much in the hunt.
Mickelson took the lead by opening with two birdies, and
he stretched it to three with his up-and-down from the front
of the green on the par-5 11th. His approach into the 12th
also looked pure, but it released instead of checking up,
tumbling into the fringe. He ran his birdie putt 30 inches by
and then caught the right lip.
On the next hole, having come up short of the green, he
pitched aggressively six feet by and missed the putt. On the
par-3 16th, he pulled it so badly that it bounced 30 yards
right of the green and he two-putted for bogey from 40 feet.
Mickelson got his nose back in front on the par-5 17th
when he and Harrington both came up short of the green.
Mickelson chipped to three feet for birdie, while Harrington
missed a tricky birdie putt from five feet.
“I’m still well in contention,” Harrington said. “But the goal
on Saturday is to take people out. Unfortunately, we didn’t
do that today.”
4Howell III Battles Back, Wins in Playoff
Howell earned $936,000 and was atop the PGA TOUR
money list for the first time in his career.
“It’s been a long time,” Howell said. “I’ve always said
Riviera was my favorite golf course other than Augusta
National.”
That wasn’t the case about four years prior.
In 2003, Howell lost a three-shot lead in the final round at
Riviera and then hit a spectacular bunker shot on the 10th,
only to miss a five-foot birdie putt and lose to Mike Weir.
Last year, Howell was on the ropes on No. 10 in the playoff,
his ball on the cart path some 100 feet left of the hole.
Off the concrete, his sand wedge clipped a tree and
dropped down. With Mickelson in the neck of the green on
the 314-yard hole, Howell looked doomed, but he played
a pitch with perfect pace to three feet and Mickelson
played away from the flag to 20 feet. Both left with par.
2008 OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT MAGAZINE 25