Backspin: Mickelson's mental focus made him unbeatable

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Nothing comes close to the atmosphere of a Tiger-Phil final-round pairing. That was evident again Sunday at Pebble Beach -- even if it was a one-sided affair -- as the two played together for the 30th time.

I'll get to Woods in a minute. The primary focus belongs to Phil Mickelson. who had an admittedly slow start to his season and then, bam, went out and shot a sizzling 8-under 64 in chilly, overcast conditions in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, as the 41-year-old won for the 40th time in his career.

That number, by the way, is of no small significance. It puts the soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer ninth all-time in PGA TOUR wins, ahead of Tom Watson and within five of Walter Hagen.

The victory was also his fourth at Pebble Beach, which ranks second all-time, ahead of Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller and just one behind Mark O'Meara.

This one was about the way Mickelson did it, though: three birdies and an eagle in his first five holes to race to the front of the pack after starting the day six back. He left Woods in his dust -- and everyone else, too, thanks to a suddenly hot putter.

In Saturday's third round, it was about the all-weather gloves in a heavy mist that blanketed Pebble Beach. On Sunday it was about the flat stick with just 26 putts, his fewest all week.

"My putter just feels really good," he said. "All mechanics are out the window. I feel like it's where I've wanted fundamentally and mechanically to be to the point where I don't worry about the stroke and have not now for the last six weeks.

"I still miss putts, but from the last couple of years where I was making hardly any, now I feel like I'm making a bunch."

None were bigger than the 21-footer for eagle he made on the par-5 sixth, and the 30-footer to save par on the par-3 12th.

"Because I didn't have any mechanical thoughts, because I had confidence in my ability to roll it, I believed I was going to make these," Mickelson said.

The other reason Mickelson had that belief is because he relishes playing in the cauldron with Woods. Ever since 2007, it's been a one-sided rivalry when the two have been paired together thanks mostly to Mickelson's mental focus when paired with Woods.

That was certainly the case again Sunday, where he thought his way around the golf course better than he has in a long time.

"I've been a little bit lazy mentally," Mickelson said. "So it was a real effort for me to stay focused on every single shot and to not let my mind slip or wander or be lazy."

Now can he do that the rest of the season, whether he's paired with Woods or not?

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. It's pretty clear that Tiger Woods is not where he ultimately wants to be with his game, but he's certainly moved a long way in the right direction -- Sunday's putting meltdown notwithstanding. "I thought watching him play, it looked so different than it has the last few years," Phil Mickelson said. "It's such a night and day difference -- he never hooked a shot. He used to hit a hook and you were waiting for it and now he's just striping it right at his target with a tiny little fade just like he used to do. And his iron play looked extremely sharp. I know the score wasn't what he wanted and I know he didn't putt the way he wanted to, but you could tell that he's really close."

2. The two putts I thought hurt Woods the most came when he barely missed his long eagle putt on the par-5 sixth, and then watched Mickelson make his, and when he missed a bunny of a putt from 2 feet on the par-3 seventh. Those were killers. Then the dagger came on the par-3 12th when he holed a bunker shot for birdie and in what looked to be a two-shot swing to cut a five-shot deficit to three, only to watch Mickelson pour in a 30-footer to save par.

3. Not lost, at least literally, in all the Tiger-Phil drama was Charlie Wi. For the third straight week we've seen a player enter Sunday with a fairly chunky lead, and for the third straight week we watched him lose it. Wi led by three entering the final round and didn't waste any time throwing away that advantage, as he four-putted for double bogey on the first hole. "That's probably not very ideal," Wi said afterward. Earlier in the week Spencer Levin talked about his own final-round collapse the week before, saying, "You don't really feel it coming. It's almost like a snowball effect." That snowball turned into an avalanche for Wi, who was 4 over after six holes.

4. Speaking of Levin, he's about as old school as it gets, even if he's just 27 years old. The Sacramento native puffs through packs of cigarettes like it's 1940, and he doesn't have a Twitter account, a Facebook page (actually he does, but his agent handles it), or even a cell phone. "I haven't even ever been on there. I don't even know what it says," he said of Facebook. "I think I dropped my cell phone in the water or whatever somewhere, and then I just haven't bothered to get a new one. I have no desire to. My girlfriend has got all my buddies' numbers, so I can talk to my friends through her phone. That's how I do it."

5. Stat(s) of the Week: Mickelson recorded the only bogey-free round Sunday. He also led the field in strokes gained-putting on Pebble Beach at 3.327.

6. You give Padraig Harrington a microphone and he knows how to wear it out. His early-week press conference at Pebble Beach consisted of 20 questions, lasted 52 minutes and produced a 10-page transcript. Just imagine if he'd won the tournament. Not that any of it wasn't brilliant. He talks, we listen.

7. Excellent point made by Dustin Johnson on Sunday at Pebble Beach, where the rounds stretched deep into the 5-hour mark because of the pro-am aspect of the tournament: "If you're going to be stuck out on a golf course for six hours, this is a place that's not so bad."

8. A couple of observations after watching a lot of golf from Tony Romo, Woods' celebrity partner last week: He crushes the ball and is able to do so because of some of the same physics in the hips and shoulders that are associated with throwing a football; and he's a lot bigger in person than on TV with some sizeable meat hooks.

9. When will U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III start looking at players to make or fill out his team: "I know they measure for clothes usually in May," he joked last week. One thing he wasn't kidding about: Considering last year's Presidents Cup Captain and good friend Fred Couples as an assistant captain.

Monday Mailbag

"What are your thoughts on multi-venue tournaments? Could/should there be more of them? What are the benefits/drawbacks for fans? -- Andy Hodgson Generally, the only time multi-venue tournaments occur is when there is a pro-am field as part of the tournament (the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines' North and South Courses is an exception). So with that in mind you have to ask yourself if you want to see more tournaments with celebrity fields. In a case like the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, three courses are needed to accommodate the large field and lengthy rounds. The tough part of course is that you the fan (or TV cameras for that matter) can't be everywhere at once. Logistically, there's only so much you can do. The benefit of course is that you have more play for your golf dollar. But it's also no easy task. "Who over 40 is most likely to win a major this year? And will Sergio Garcia or Lee Westwood break though?" -- Ryan Hunt Well, given how Phil Mickelson played at Pebble Beach this past week, I certainly think he still has a major or two left in him. He's always a threat at the Masters, and he's finished second at the U.S. Open five times. As for Garcia or Westwood, at this point I tend to think Westwood. He's come close a few times and seems to keep putting himself in position. Is there any place in the world better to work or play than the Monterey Peninsula? -- Greg Turcotte There's a reason Jack Nicklaus once said if he had one round left to play it would likely be at Pebble Beach. Not only is it a great course, or great set of courses with Cypress Point the best of them, but the views obviously are spectacular. And the towns like Carmel and Monterey and Pacific Grove that make up the Monterey Peninsula are fantastic. Have a question for the mailbag? Email brianwacker@pgatourhq.com, or tweet it to @pgatour_brianw.

Forward Spin

There's probably no cooler stop on the PGA TOUR than the Riviera. After all, it's in L.A., and Fred Couples is in the field. So are Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jason Gore, whose innocent Twitter campaign actually landed the So Cal resident a sponsor exemption. But the player who jumps out the most to me is Adam Scott. He's making his PGA TOUR season debut this week, is coming off a big year and has had success at the Northern Trust Open before with a win in 2005 and a runner-up finish in 2006.