Final-round notebook:
Mickelson: Never in hunt, but it’s good news – WGC - Bridgestone Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – Phil Mickelson wasn’t anywhere near the hunt all week, but he also won at the Bridgestone. He closed with a 3-over 73 Sunday for an unimpressive 287 total, 7 over, but just getting into the heat and the pressure made him a winner.
“I was encouraged that I was able to get out and play,” said Mickelson, who hadn’t played since the U.S. Open in mid-June, after learning that his wife Amy had breast cancer. And soon after that, his mother was also diagnosed with the same disease.
“It’s going to be an up-and-down road for us the next couple years,” Mickelson said. “It’s been promising that we’ve had some good diagnosis, that things have been going well in that regard. But it’s still never easy, and there’s still going to be some bumps along the road.”
As to the Tournament: “I didn’t score well. I didn’t play as poorly as the score reflected. I thought my short game was not as sharp as it needed to be on greens that got firm, on rough that was a little bit higher than I had been practicing on.”
So it will be on to the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, in Minnesota, this week. “I’m going to spend extra time getting my chipping down, my putting down,” Mickelson said.
ON TO HAZELTINE II – “I think this has been the perfect warmup for me,” said Justin Rose (69-281, 1 over). “I am encouraged for next week. I played Hazeltine in 2002 and did fairly well as a young kid. I don’t remember much about it, but I take a lot of confidence from three rounds in the 60s here.”
ON TO HAZELTINE III – Ian Poulter (70-278), on the long par-5s at Hazeltine: “It’s just getting silly, isn’t it? What is it – like, let’s make all the par-fives over 600 yards so nobody can get there, and it’s a yard longer than the longest par-five in US PGA history? Well done. Give yourself a pat on the back. So we’ll see. It’ll be fun, I’m sure, and somebody will have to win at the end of the week.”
BRIDGESTONE RE-UPS – After losing Tournaments and hearing nothing but bad news for months, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem had some good news to talk about Sunday – Bridgestone has agreed “in principle” to extend the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational through 2014, and would remain at Firestone Country Club. Neither side elaborated on what “in principle” means, but Finchem, responding to a question, did say that “prize money is not going to grow the next three or four years at the same rate of increase that it has in the past five years.” Apparently meaning that the purse, $8.5 million this year, would grow, but not by as much as in the past.
U.S. WALKER CUP TEAM – The U.S. Golf Association Sunday announced the selections of eight of the 10 members of the U.S. Walker Cup team. They are Bud Cauley, 19, of Jacksonville, Fla.; Rickie Fowler, 20, of Murrieta, Calif.: Brendan Gielow, 21, of Muskegon, Mich.; Brian Harman, 22, of Savannah, Ga.; Morgan Hoffmann, 19, of Saddle Brook, N.J.; Adam Mitchell, 22, of Chattanooga, Tenn.; Nathan Smith, 30, of Pittsburgh, and Drew Weaver, 22, of High Point, N.C. The final two spots will be filled after the U.S. Amateur, Aug. 24-30, at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. The 2009 Walker Cup will be played Sept. 12-13 against the Great Britain and Ireland team at Merion Golf Club, near Philadelphia.
ODDS AND ENDS – Woods and Harrington were warned of slow play at the 16th tee, being notified that they were being timed … Prayad Marksaeng, the appealing Thai and Asian Tour star who opened with a 66, closed with a one-birdie 74 and a 282 total … Ross Fisher (72-283): “Same old story for me. I hit the ball pretty well but just couldn’t hole a putt. If I can start holing some putts, I feel I can really seriously contend in the PGA” … Nick Dougherty, after his week’s worst 75 for a 6-over 286 total: “It’s sad that the last day is the one you remember the most. I feel a bit pig-sick to be honest …”
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods posted a 5-under 65 for the second consecutive day to capture the 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational by two strokes over Robert Allenby (66) and Padraig Harrington (72). The win is the 70th of Woods’ career on the PGA Tour in 248 career starts (234 as a professional). As a result, he moves within three victories of tying Jack Nicklaus (73 wins) for second place on the all-time PGA Tour wins list. Sam Snead, with 82 wins, leads the list.
The win is worth 550 FedExCup points and keeps Woods (3,101 points) firmly planted in the top spot on the points list with just two events remaining before the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup begin at The Barclays. He leads Steve Stricker by 946 points.
Woods becomes the first player to win a stroke-play event seven times on the same golf course on either the PGA Tour or European Tour. Only Sam Snead has more victories in a single Tournament (eight wins in Greensboro), but he performed the feat on different courses. Here’s a list of players who have won six (or more) times on the same golf course on the PGA Tour:
Woods won the Bridgestone Invitational seven times at Firestone (1999-2001, 2005-07, 2009)
Woods won the Buick Invitational six times at Torrey Pines* (1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational six times at Bay Hill (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009)
Alex Ross won the North & South Open six times at Pinehurst (1902, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1915)
Jack Nicklaus won the Masters six times at Augusta National (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986)
Sam Snead won the Miami Open six times at Miami Springs G&CC (1937, 1939, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955)
*Two-course rotation used for the Tournament
Tiger Woods’ statistics for the week:
Numbers Rank
Fairways Hit 29/56-51.8% T38
Greens in Regulation 51/72-70.8% T2
Putts Per Round 27.8 T24
Driving Distance 312.5 27
Woods won the Memorial Tournament for the fourth time in his career earlier this season. He has now followed each of his four wins at the Memorial with a victory at the Bridgestone Invitational (1999, 2000, 2001, 2009).
In 10 starts, Woods has never finished lower than fourth at the Bridgestone Invitational (4-2002, T4-2003).
Woods will enter the PGA Championship seeking to win for the third consecutive week on the PGA Tour for the third time in his career. The others came in 1999 (Disney, Tour Championship, American Express) and 2006 (PGA Championship, Bridgestone Invitational, Deutsche Bank Championship).
The only player to win on the PGA Tour the week before the Bridgestone Invitational and then go on to capture the WGC event was Tiger Woods, doing so in 2000, 2006 and 2009. The first two seasons he followed up his victory at the PGA Championship with a win at Firestone Country Club. This year’s win at the Bridgestone Invitational followed his third-career victory at the Buick Open.
Woods has won 16 World Golf Championships events in 30 starts:
Official World Golf Championship Victories (16)
Bridgestone Invitational 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Accenture Match Play Championship 2003, 2004, 2008
CA Championship 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007
Woods has come-from-behind 20 times (of 67 stroke-play wins) in his career. Six of those 10 wins have been by three shots or more, including three this season.
Robert Allenby
The runner-up finish is the sixth of Robert Allenby’s PGA Tour career (324 starts), and the first since the 2008 Turning Stone Resort Championship.
Robert Allenby (T2) and Stewart Cink (T6) posted all four rounds in the 60s this week. In all, the feat has been performed 14 times at the Bridgestone Invitational, with Jim Furyk (2000, 2003, 2006), Tiger Woods (2000, 2001) and Allenby (2003, 2009) accounting for seven.
Robert Allenby’s runner-up finish came in his 26th career start in a World Golf Championships event and ninth appearance at the Bridgestone Invitational. It equals his previous best finish in a WGC event - T2 at the 2002 Bridgestone Invitational.
Padraig Harrington
Harrington’s T2 finish is his best in 30 career starts in World Golf Championships events. His previous best finish was T5, set on three occasions (2004 and 2006 Accenture Match Play Championship, 2000 CA Championship). He collects 257.5 FedExCup points to move from No. 142 to No. 68 in the FedExCup standings.
Harrington made his 11th start at the Bridgestone Invitational this week, with four top-20 finishes. Prior to Sunday’s runner-up effort, his previous-best result came in his first start in 1999 (T12).
Padraig Harrington is now one for three when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour and seven of 19 on the European Tour. Here’s a look at his 54-hole leads on the PGA Tour:
2003 PLAYERS Championship (T1 with Jay Haas; shot 72 on Sunday to finish T2 behind Davis Love)
2005 Barclays Classic (T1 with Jim Fuyrk; shot 70 on Sunday and won)
2009 Bridgestone Invitational (Led by 3 over Tiger Woods; shot 72 to finish T2 behind Tiger Woods)
Miscellaneous
With Padraig Harrington failing to win on Sunday, the third-round leader/co-leader has now gone on to win 19 of 33 stroke-play events on the PGA Tour this season. The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the Bridgestone Invitational seven out of 11 times. All four comeback victories were posted by Tiger Woods.
Five players have competed in all 11 Bridgestone Invitationals, including Padraig Harrington (T2), Lee Westwood (9), Phil Mickelson (T58), Darren Clarke (T22) and Stuart Appleby (T51). This group has combined for one victory (Darren Clarke, 2003), four second-place finishes, one third and 15 top 10s.
Hunter Mahan finished T4 this week for his sixth top-10 finish of the season, including four out of his last five starts (T6-U.S. Open, T4-Travelers, 2-AT&T National, MC-British Open, T4-Bridgestone Invitational). Mahan, who has made the cut in 17 of 18 starts this season, has moved all the way to No. 13 in the FedExCup standings. Mahan now has two top-10 finishes in seven World Golf Championships starts (T10-2008 Bridgestone Invitational).
Danny Lee, the youngest player to ever tee it up in a World Golf Championships event, posted an even-par 70 on Sunday to finish T51.
2008 FedExCup winner Vijay Singh finished T29 this week in his title defense. The 34-time PGA Tour winner, including wins at the 1998 and 2004 PGA Championship, will head to Hazeltine next week seeking his first victory of the year. Singh has wins in 11 of his last 12 seasons on Tour, with 2001 his last winless season. He is currently No. 63 on the FedExCup points list.
Phil Mickelson finished T58 in his first start on Tour since a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open on June 21. The lefthander owns five top-10 finishes in 11 starts at the Bridgestone Invitational, with a runner-up finish in his inaugural start in 1999 his best result.
All three Major championship winners this season finished inside the top 20 this week: Angel Cabrera (T4), Stewart Cink (T6) and Lucas Glover (T19).
This week’s field included 11 past champions of World Golf Championships events, including four past champions of the Bridgestone Invitational: Tiger Woods (1), Stewart Cink (T6), Darren Clarke (T22) and Vijay Singh (T29).
Five players entered the week with top-10 finishes in the previous two World Golf Championships this season, but none were able to make it three consecutive.
Statistical Leaders for the Week:
Numbers Player
Fairways Hit 40/56-71.43% Jim Furyk
Greens in Regulation 53/72-73.61% Hunter Mahan
Putts Per Round 26.50 Dougherty, Harrington, Kim
Driving Distance 339.4 Angel Cabrera
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