Endgame for Tiger Woods as Phil Mickelson eyes No. 1 spot?
Yes, he's been in this position before, and how we've been disappointed. For the 10th time this year, Phil Mickelson has the chance to replace Tiger Woods as No. 1 in the world golf rankings today. Difference is, right now Mickelson is playing more like a world No. 1.
The Deutsche Bank Championship climaxes at TPC Boston later today, and Mickelson goes into the final day tied for sixth place, five shots shy of leader Jason Day. That's ground that Mickelson is eminently capable of making up, though he may not have to.
As things stand today, a win would see Mickelson officially topple Woods from the top slot, however the current No. 1 finishes; second place will be enough to get the job done if Woods finishes outside the top-three, as will a third-place finish with Woods outside the top-nine. And Mickelson can also clinch the No. 1 spot if he lands a fourth-place finish while Woods places outside the top-24.
The man who has occupied the No. 2 slot for a whopping 261 weeks, on and off, hasn't so far been able to take advantage of Tiger Woods' slump this year. With the 34-year-old showing signs that he was improving in recent weeks, there have been those who wondered if Mickelson had missed his window of opportunity.
Not that there haven't been mitigating circumstances. Last year the Californian learned that both his wife and mother were suffering from breast cancer; though the long-term prognosis for the pair is good, that Mickelson might have been wrestling with weightier considerations is understandable.
Turns out there have been other factors, too. In the days before the PGA Championship, Mickelson revealed that since just before the US Open he'd been suffering from a form of arthritis. While the 40-year-old has been taking medication that has successfully alleviated the pain, he can surely be excused a temporary loss in focus.
In any case, Mickelson is starting to resemble the man who saw off Lee Westwood at the Masters earlier this year. He was four-under yesterday, carding five birdies and a bogey for a four-under-par 67, to go with Saturday's six-under-par 65, and Friday's two-under-par 69.
Mickelson even repeated a moment from his own history yesterday, producing a shot from 130ft out on the fairway which struck the flagstick on the 15th, before rolling all the way back off the green.
That was a virtual xerox of a shot he had produced on the same hole, same tournament last year - except this time Mickelson followed it up with a perfectly judged chip that found the pin - without bouncing off the stick - for a birdie.
"I kind of turned to Jim [Mackay - Mickelson's caddy] and said, 's***w it, I'm going to make this,'" Mickelson revealed after his round. "'Stuff happens. I'm going to knock this one in.' And I'll be darned if that ball didn't go in. So that was a fun little moment."
Woods is improving, too, shooting his first bogey-free round of the year on Saturday, though 10 strokes behind Day, he's surely too far off the pace to challenge for victory today.
There is one other permutation we've yet to consider, however; Steve Stricker, fourth in the world, fourth on the leaderboard and the defending champion here, could leapfrog Mickelson to see off Woods if Stricker were to win, Woods were to finish outside of the top nine - and Mickelson failed to make the top three.
In other words, Mickelson's fairy-tale finish could yet wind up possessing all the anticlimactic gloom of a Samuel Beckett play, the nominal hero of the piece doomed to wait in vain for an event that may never transpire.
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