COURSE REVIEWS

Tiger's Streak Runs Out Of Gas At Buick

Woods Makes A Charge But Eventually
Falters As Mickelson Wins Title

By Bob Buttitta,
GolfCalifornia.com Course Reviewer

 

	Phil Mickelson

TORREY PINES -- Having surrendered a seven stroke lead to Tiger Woods after 12 holes of the 2000 Buick Invitational, Phil Mickelson stood over his third shot on the par-5, 13th with both the Buick Invitational title and Tiger Woods' consecutive win streak hanging on its outcome.

Refusing to fold under the pressure, Mickelson took out his 9-iron and from 116 yards calmly dropped his ball 3 feet from the pin. He then drained the birdie putt, putting him back on top for good. With both his confidence and lead restored, the San Diego native went on to birdie four of the final six holes, giving him a four stroke victory over Woods and Shigeki Maruyama. Mickelson finished at 18-under, 210. Woods, who had a final round 4-under, 68, finished at 214.

The win ended Woods consecutive wins streak at six and more importantly to Mickelson gave him his first victory since the 1998 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The $540,000 first prize pushed Mickelson past the $9 million mark in career earnings and made Mickelson just the sixth golfer to win the two Buick Invitational titles. Woods and Maruyama shared the second place money, each receiving $264,000. Davis Love III was fourth.

"After I made that putt I felt I was back in control," Mickelson said. "I birdied the next hole and got the momentum back. I wasn't thinking about Tiger at that point, I just knew I needed to make a birdie.

"After I made the double bogey on 11, my mind set changed and I knew I had to attack. I did that on 12 and although I only made par I was more aggressive. I think the two things I'm going to get from today are, one, the confidence that I can play against the best in the world and win and two, next time I get a six stroke lead I need to get tougher and try to make it eight, nine or ten."

Ironically Mickelson was Woods first victim during his six-tournament run, but despite that Mickelson said he felt no greater sense of pride with this win.

"I wasn't out to end the streak, I just wanted to win the tournament," Mickelson said. "I would be proud if I could be the guy that had the six-tournament streak.

"The way Tiger has played the last six events and prior to that, has generated a lot of interest for the game of golf. There are galleries that were so large this week they couldn't accommodate them parking wise and I'm a beneficiary of that. The purses increase. I'm making more money because Tiger is helping increase these purses. Now I sure wanted to beat him and I was going to lay over and let his streak continue. If he beat me on his own play there's not much I can do about that. But I certainly wasn't going to hand it to him, even though it looked like I was."

While the golfing world may be disappointed that Woods' streak has come to an end, the 24-year-old superstar said while he was disappointed he didn't win, his feelings had nothing to do with the streak.

	Tiger Woods

"I'm always disappointed when I don't win, but I am proud of the way I hung in there today and gave myself a chance to win even though I was playing so poorly. Just to kind of hang in there, chip and putt and just grind away at it and just give myself a chance - I was proud f myself for that. But to go out there and win a tournament hitting it like that, that is not an easy thing to do."

After grabbing a share of the lead with a birdie on the par 5, 535 yard 13th hole, it appeared Woods was writing the script for another miracle comeback. But instead, Woods began to unravel, starting with a bogey on the par 4, 398 yard 12th hole.

Woods' second shot landed on the back edge of the green, some 30 feet from the pin. Always aggressive, Woods rolled his birdie putt past the hole by seven feet, and subsequently missed the par putt and he never hot within three shots of the lead again.

Woods got off to an auspicious start. His pulled his drive left toward the rough but as the ball came down it hit a spectator's chair, ricocheting back into the fairway. Woods took advantage of the gift, hitting a 5 iron to within 8 feet. He drained the putt, dropping him to 11-under.

Over the next five holes Woods continued to struggle off the tee, but his short game saved him, as he was able to get up-and-down several times to save par. He made a birdie at the par 5-, 557 yard sixth hole to drop to 12-under, but at that point he was seven strokes back.

"To be under par for as poorly as I was playing was a miracle," Woods said. "I struggled with my swing all day. Even the 5 iron I hit on the first hole was not a good shot; I was actually aiming to the right of the hole.

"It's kind of funny, I hear all these yelling what a great shot it is but inside I know that it wasn't a great shot. My swing just got worse and worse as the day went on. That's why I'm proud of the way I was able to hang in there and scratch and claw and just give everything I had. I just wasn't hitting it good enough to give myself a viable chance down the stretch and it finally caught up with me."

• Past PGA Tour coverage from TGM • By Any Name, Buick Has a Sweet History • Past GolfCalifornia.com course reviews

While Tiger struggled early, Mickelson came out strong. After making par on the first three holes, he birdied four, five and six, just missing an eagle putt on six. But just when it appeared he was going to run away and hide, Mickelson made double bogey on the par 4, seventh, dropping him back to 17-under par and giving his Woods and Maruyama hope of catching him.

That hope got a little brighter a few holes later when he made double bogey on the par-3, 11th, and when Woods made birdie on 13, he and Mickelson were tied.

"The mistake I made on 7 was not knocking the first chip shot in the middle of the green and having a 20 footer at it for par. That was a mistake," Mickelson said. "I gave two back when I should have only given one.

"And the same thing on 12. I needed to hit a solid shot into the middle of the green and force guys to make birdies to catch me and not make a bogey or double it to bring myself back. But after the double on 11 my mindset changed. I knew I had to get aggressive. I had to try and play the way I did the first three rounds. I did that and when I birdied 13 that gave me confidence and the momentum I needed and the very next hole I birdied and Tiger made bogey."

As he stood in the fairway on 13, Mickelson knew at that moment that he and Tiger were tied. But most of the day that was not the case. Mickelson said because of the locations of the scoreboards at Torrey Pines, he had a hard time knowing where he stood with the rest of the field. He finally resorted to asking a reporter from CBS to give him an update.

"It was kind of frustrating not knowing where I stood," Mickelson said. "When Tiger made the putt on 13 however, I did know we were tied. It was tough playing behind him because we waited a lot and I got to see where he hit his drive, and his second shot and if he made his putts."

Mickelson said winning on a course where he was first exposed to the PGA tour is especially gratifying for him. Equally as gratifying was the way he won, by hitting big shots when he needed them most.

"I worked hard on my game to get ready for this year with the focus being on shots from 150 yards and in," Mickelson said. "The two best shots I hit during the week were both inside of 150 yards. The 9-iron that I eased in on 13 is a shot I did not have the last couple of years. I saw the results all week and it feels good.

After the double bogey on 11, he spotted his wife Amy and his daughter Amanda Brynn in the crowd. Amy told her husband to simply `focus' and then his daughter gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I call it a good luck kiss," Mickelson said.

Mickelson said in order for him to be the golfer he wants to be he must continue to beat the best - Woods. But he added that he and Tiger are talking about playing some events together.

"We talked about teaming up," Mickelson said. "It's something we're both interested in looking into."

Notes:

Tiger's Impact: Just how big a story was Tiger's pursuit of his seventh consecutive win? Pretty big judging by the amount of media that turned out to cover the story. Rick Schloss, the director of media for the Buick Invitational said in a normal year the issue about 100 media credentials. This year, more than 400 credentials were requested, for media from as far away as Japan. The tournament set an attendance record with 170,000 for the four days, more than 20,000 more than last year.

More Tiger: He was asked if the difference between Byron Nelson's streak of 11 straight and his six straight is just five tournaments or is it much harder to do 50 years later.

"I think there are more demands on your time now than there were when Byron did it," Woods said. "There are a lot more responsibilities before and after the round that you didn't have then. I don't know how it would be to go out there and play a round of golf and not have the media out there and not have any fans.

"As far as the competition, he had some pretty good competition at that time. I can't say that he didn't. "

As for putting together another streak. "I don't know. If I can predict the future, then I know I'll be different."

Chip's Back: At one point, Chip Beck missed 47 consecutive cuts. His control off the tee left him and for a while it seemed like he might never get it back. Working with a club pro in Chicago, Beck made needed changes in his swing, and now the confidence is starting to come back. He finished tied for 21st at the Buick, earning him $29,014.

Beck finished the tournament by holing out from the fairway for an eagle on 18. "It's a wonderful feeling to be in the game," Beck said. "I'm just so happy to have the opportunity."

Maruyama Enjoyed His Week: Shigeki Maruyama opened the eyes of golf fans throughout the country with his strong play this week. The good-natured Maruyama said he had a blast during the competition. "I gained a lot of confidence," he said. "I enjoyed it and now I know I must practice a lot more to come out here and compete like players such as Phil Mickelson and Dave Love III.

Maruyama said he thought he might have a chance to win the tournament when Mickelson made his double bogey on 11, but he could never get his game going. "I have trouble hitting my shots straight and today it showed," he said. "I feel good about my finish but I will not be satisfied until I win."