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Mickelson wins WGC as a rusty Tiger Woods putter is not up to Birdie : CNN Reports Classic Comment by Nick Watney

By Andis Kaulins

As reported at CNN, Phil Mickelson beat Nick Watney by one stroke to take to the WGC-CA Championship on the Blue Monster Course at Doral, where this author once played nearly 40 years ago. (I recall shooting a 74, but golf "memory" gets better as we move along in age.)

Tiger Woods finished tied for 9th place, 11 strokes back of the leader. The problem was not Tiger's driving, where he was easily knocking the ball 310 yards - Tiger in fact might hit the ball nearly as far as I do :-), although at the moment, because of this long drawn-out winter, I must admit to having about a 60-pound weight advantage.

The difference in winning though, as every golfer knows, is in the putting, and a one-year layoff, as good as Tiger is, will take its toll on the putting feel. As a result, as reported at golf.de, Tiger did not make any longer putts at all and needed 113 putts for the four rounds, while Mickelson needed only 99. That was the major difference for Phil's win, who on day 1 chipped in on three straight holes - 16, 17, and 18, and when is the last time that has happened?

Watney left his putt short on the last hole on closing day to stay one stroke back and came up with a classic tautological explanation for his loss:

"I can't believe I left it short," he said. "Unfortunately I just didn't hit it hard enough."

Obviously.

Full post as published by LawPundit on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).