WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2010: Phil Mickelson is the next world’s number 1, Tiger Wood in horrible form
Speculations are that the official world golf ranking is about to replace its number 1 Tiger Woods with Phil Mickelson.
Phil Mickelson shot 6 under on Friday at the Firestone Country Club to take the second position on the leader board of the 2nd round of WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2010.
This second position, on the leader board can take him to the highest rank on the OWGR. Not to forget the rank already belongs to Tiger Woods but somehow it seems Tiger is not in the form to defend it.
On the other hand, Phil Mickelson is only 1 shot behind Retief Goosen, the current leader of the round. Goosen shot 7 under 66 to take a lead. Retief Goosen made a birdie at the 4th hole around 25 yards off the green to confirm his lead .He teed off from the back nine. On the whole, he smashed 6 birdies with two bogeys to get into the lead with 133 strokes. Moreover, he has hit the second highest green in regulations in the round and that percentage mounts to 61.1%.
The least expected Retief Goosen has managed to fly few birdies on Tiger Wood’s favourite course, whereas Tiger is on the back bench hiding. The seven-time champion at the Firestone country club has hit only three fairways and crumbled to a 2-over 72.This is the very first time Tiger Woods has finished two consecutive rounds with over par and this has thrown him 13 shots out of the lead.
Tiger Woods has been No. 1 since 2005, and the only way to retain this position is, if he finishes in top 30 in this tournament. However, the way tiger is bolting over the par on his scorecard, it is pretty clear that the number 1 is out of his hands. To make it worst, if Phil Mickelson even finishes with the top 4th position, even then Tiger will be bidding goodbye to his rank. Seems like Tiger Woods has understood this fact and that is why he left right after the tournament without talking to the media.
According to the experts, this is the last opportunity for Tiger Woods and the first one for Phil Mickelson. Obviously, Phil Mickelson is in better position and the way his game is improving every passing tournament, the numero uno position is not far from him. As far as his second round is concerned, he was more focused, he missed no shot and his driving distance was excellent with 304.7.The only defect came with his poor decision making, at the 14th hole when he pasted a double bogey.
Moving forward with the players, who were on the top in the first round of the tournament. Bubba Watson the leader of the first round shot 71 and is standing at the top 4. Kenny Perry is at top 24 after shooting 73, Adam Scott is out of top 2 and into top 7. Graeme McDowell is down in Top 24 after shooting a 73 and Rory McIlroy is at top 13 after striking 69. One thing common in all these players is that they have come down on the leader board since the first round. On the whole, the second round has been tough for the leaders of the first round.
To sum it up, the second round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2010, which was being held at the Firestone country club has ended and yet again Tiger Woods has performed miserable with 2 over par. Retief Goosen is in the lead with 6 under, however, nothing can be said regarding the retention of the lead for the next two rounds. Phil Mickelson is in the second group with Justin Leonard at 1 shot deficit from the lead. According to the analyst’s very soon, the top of the official world golf ranking will be undergoing changes and Phil Mickelson’s name will be seen in the place where Tiger Wood resided for five years.
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