Northern Trust Open Wrap Up

The final round of the Northern Trust Open was a 2-man race to the finish between Phil "The Thrill" Mickelson and Jeff Quinney. The duo, both graduates of Arizona State University, played together for the first time on tour. In fact, Mickelson served as Quinney's mentor earlier in Jeff's professional career. The heavy winds, which frustrated golfers all week, were largely absent on Sunday, but Riveria still played rough and tough. Mickelson carded a final round 70, good for 12-under par, two strokes clear of Quinney for Phil's 33rd win on tour.

Mickelson has been plagued with poor putting this year, but after a lesson with L.P.G.A. hall of famer Amy Alcott earlier in the week along with changing his golf ball and putter inserts, he triumphed at Riviera for the first time in his career. British Open champ Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald tied for third, each shooting 68 ahead of Scott Verplank and Ryuji Imada. Quinney who stayed close to Phil through the first 9, faltered on the back side in search of his first victory.

Quinney, who recorded a hole-in-one on Saturday, won the U.S. Amateur in 2000. On his way to victory in the Amateur, Quinney defeated Lucas Glover, Jonathon Byrd, David Eger, and James Driscoll. That's a pretty impressive route through the amateur bracket.

Next week is the Accenture Match Play Championship, featuring the top 64 players in the world, as well as the return of Tiger Woods. I can hardly wait....how many hours until Wednesday?

Northern Trust Open Day 1

The PGA TOUR began play Thursday at the Northern Trust Open. Seventeen of the world's top twenty were present at Riviera Country club. Noticeably absent was Tiger Woods, who played his first professional tournament at Riviera when he received a sponsor's exemption at the age of 16. Coincedently, Tiger has played in 10 L.A. Open's without ever claiming victory. The closest he came to winning this elusive tourney, was in 1998 when he lost in a playoff to Billy Mayfair. Luckily for us golf fans, all the other top guns slapped the rock around the short, but tight Riviera course with dismal success.

Phil Mickelson trying to rebound from the loss to JB Holmes in a playoff in Phoenix on Superbowl Sunday, carded a 68- trailing KJ Choi , who opened with a 65, the best score of the day. Kevin Na shot 66, followed by Chad Campbell and Vaughn Taylor posting 4-under tied for third place. Davis Love III and David Duval both came out of hiding with dismal results; a 76 for Love and Duval headed back to Idaho after withdrawing in the face of the Riviera high winds.

Players who teed up in the afternoon faced difficult conditions as the heavy winds and fast greens resulted in some scores closer to 80 than 60. Jim Furyk shot 76, Retief hacked his way around the course with a 79 and last weeks winner, Steve Lowery, also turned in a dismal 8-over par. Conditions were expected to improve on Friday as players try to go low and improve their standings for the weekend. On a personal note I wonder if O.J. Simpson who was a long time member of Rivera is welcome as a guest spectator?