Mickelson Secures Big Win at Doral

Phil Mickelson started his Sunday at the WGC-CA Championship tied for the lead with Nick Watney and four shots clear of the rest of the field. Having never won a World Golf Championships event or an event at the famed Doral this was poised to be a big day for Phil. Also, with a win he would move closer than ever before to the No. 1 ranking in the world. Mickelson started his day off strong with some solid birdies, but Watney played well and hung with him through the first eight holes. Then Watney missed the 9th green badly and it look as if Phil was going to take a stout three shot lead to the back nine. This is when Watney holed an unbelievable pitch shot from the behind the green for birdie and cut the lead to just one going into the back nine. Then on the par five tenth both men hit the green in two, but Watney put it close and made eagle to tie things up as Mickelson made a birdie. Phil had played some solid golf all week, but he was going to need a solid finish to hold on for the win. Over the next few holes both of them made a lot of pars and the occasional bogey. Most notably both Mickelson and Watney made a mess of the par five 12th. Phil came to the 18th tee with a one shot lead though, and bombed his drive down the middle. Once again though Watney matched. Both of them then proceeded to barely miss the green. All the pressure was on Watney now as he needed to hole a 35 foot putt from just off the green to force a playoff. He hit a great putt, but it came up just short. Phil then went on to two putt from the fringe to secure his 36th career PGA Tour victory and his first WGC event. After making a solid par with the tournament on the line on the toughest hole on the PGA Tour Phil showed that he can get it done with the pressure on. With this win Phil did move to No. 2 in the world and is the closest he has ever been to being No. 1. I would look for Mickelson to win one of the first two majors of the year because his game is solid right now (especially his short game), and he has a lot of momentum as he has already won twice this year. Also, Phil already has two Green Jackets, and he got second at the 2002 United States Open, which was played at this year's venue Bethpage Black.