Backspin: All signs point to career year for Mickelson

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After going 0-2 in his first two playoffs on the PGA TOUR, Bill Haas has a couple of pretty memorable wins in his last two sudden-death appearances.

This one doesn't rank as high as his victory in last fall's TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, in which Haas captured the FedExCup in the process, but taking down Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley isn't far behind. Particularly, given the wave of momentum Mickelson and Bradley were riding after each birdied the 18th hole to force overtime.

As good as Haas was in wining the Northern Trust Open on Sunday, however, Mickelson is as big a story as there is in golf right now.

After an indifferent start to his year, Mickelson has finished 1-2 each of the last two weeks. Save for a few missed putts and errant shots on Sunday -- it's rare Mickelson doesn't have any of those, even when he's on -- the future World Golf Hall of Famer is playing the kind of golf that could lead to a very big year.

"These last two weeks have been good," said Mickelson, whose next start will be at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, as he makes his run up to the Masters, which is seven weeks away.

Good is an understatement.

Mickelson is a combined 24 under in his last eight rounds, has been dialed in with his irons and off the tee and, save for a couple of costly three-putts Sunday, is rolling it well.

Early in the year, it didn't go nearly as well for Mickelson, who had zero top-25s in three starts and couldn't make anything.

"He came into the year almost overconfident," Mickelson's coach Butch Harmon told me when I asked him the difference between this year and last. "He just didn't get off to the kind if started he wanted."

After an emergency visit from Harmon earlier this year in Phoenix, however, Lefty righted the ship and was able to take what he'd been working on in practice to tournament play.

"It's a process," Mickelson said. "There are a lot of little mental hurdles.

"It comes down to being able to focus on each individual shot, not trying to force the issue, trying to be patient with the round, accepting the bad breaks. It's all these little hurdles that you have to deal with to be able to get the end result."

Mickelson didn't get the result he wanted Sunday, but he wasn't far off.

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Experience and maturity is what won Bill Haas Sunday's playoff at the Northern Trust Open as much as anything. Haas will be 30 this year, and he's been on the other end of a couple of tough playoff losses. "At Greenbrier last year I was on the range for a couple groups actually, and listened to Scott Stallings make birdie," Haas said. "Same kind of deal. Listened to the crowd. Then he hit it three or four or five feet, made birdie and beat me in a playoff."

Haas didn't allow himself to get sucked in this time, telling CBS' Peter Kostis that he fully expected Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley to birdie the 18th hole. They did, but it didn't rattle Haas. Then he smartly played well to the right of the flag on the second extra hole to ensure at least par, knowing that Mickelson and Bradley had tough second shots. The 43-footer for birdie was a bonus, but he put himself in position to at least have a run at it. Haas now has four wins in a little over two years.

2. If the 18th hole at Riviera isn't one of the best finishing holes in golf, I don't know what is. But don't take my word for it. "I'm not going to give it a number, I don't think that's fair, but top five finishing holes we play on TOUR probably," Haas said.

3. Stat of the Week I: Speaking of the Riv, as it's commonly referred to, how hard did it play last week? The cumulative scoring average of 72.622 is the highest on TOUR this season so far, and the Northern Trust Open was the only tournament of the first seven with a scoring average above par. "It was very U.S. Open-esque," Mickelson said. "It was very defensive because the greens were so firm and the pins were tough."

4. Stat of the Week II: Bill Haas won his fourth event in his 195th start on TOUR. His father, Jay, won his fourth tournament in his 180th start. I don't know that that means anything, but it reminds me of something Jay once told me: He thinks Bill will win more tournaments than he did. It'll certainly be close, given that pace. Jay won nine times in his career on TOUR.

5. How about CBS cutting to Jerry West watching the final hole of regulation, then Mickelson and Bradley both making birdie putts they had to have? I bet Mr. Clutch liked what he saw.

6. On fifteen occasions, Mickelson has turned a 54-hole lead into a win. Sunday, of course, wasn't one of them, but when he made that putt on 18, did anyone really think he wasn't going to win?

7. The last couple of years, Mickelson has taken on a bit of an elder statesman role on TOUR, whether it was playing a practice round with Brendan Steele and Keegan Bradley at last year's PLAYERS Championship, or providing his tutelage on Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams. It was evident again on Sunday. After Mickelson sank his birdie putt on the 18th hole, and with mass hysteria all around the green, he looked at Bradley and said, "Join me." Bradley obliged.

8. I think if Sergio Garcia is ever going to win a major championship, he's going to do it playing like he did Sunday, shooting a 64 to come from way back. That, by the way, was his best round on TOUR since a 64 at the 2009 Wyndham Championship.

9. Anthony Kim's season so far: Three missed cuts and a DQ after he signed for an incorrect score during the second round of last week's Northern Trust Open. Ouch.

Monday Mailbag

"Will Luke Donald or Lee Westwood win a major this season? If so, which one?" -- John Nestor I think one of them will, which one I'm not sure. Both have come close the last few years -- Westwood more so than Donald -- and I think one of them will win the British Open at Royal Lytham. They've also fared well at the Masters, where Westwood was a runner-up two years ago and both were in contention on Sunday last year. "Who's the smartest player on tour?" -- Matthew Lauria Mickelson certainly qualifies. He reads and studies everything. Kevin Streelman is up there, too -- you've got to be smart to go to Duke. Ditto Joe Ogilvie and Geoff Ogilvy. They're as insightful as any players on TOUR. Have a question for the mailbag? Email brianwacker@pgatourhq.com, or tweet it to @pgatour_brianw.

Forward Spin

There is nothing more predictably unpredictable than match play and the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is proof of that. The tournament's history is littered with No. 1 seeds going out in the first round and various other "upsets." But there is some insight you can glean from the event's history. Like the fact that Ian Poulter usually fares pretty well. He won it two years ago and has twice finished in the top five there. It's difficult not to like defending champion Luke Donald's chances either. Five times, he's made it at least as far as golf's version of the Sweet 16. Last year, the Mayakoba Golf Classic proved to be a pretty good springboard for Johnson Wagner and Spencer Levin. Both went on to have good seasons and haven't looked back after Wagner beat Levin in a playoff there. With the top 64 players in the world in Arizona, it's a perfect opportunity for just that -- a springboard. A win still carries a two-year exemption on TOUR and can give a player the spark he needs. That said, keep an eye on Billy Horschel. He played well last week on the Nationwide Tour and finished in the top 15 there a year ago.