Treasure Hunt

It was A trip for Phil Mickelson last week, but he stuck the landing, and really, that's all that matters in the world of flight on which he has become so dependent of late. It's said, incidentally, that the modern game is played in the air, but at 30,000 feet?

The genesis of his second straight victory in the Northern Trust Open took flight the week before, when he was so disturbed with his ball-striking that he flew home from Pebble Beach Friday night to retrieve an old set of irons. Couldn't he have cashed in some FedEx Cup points and had them delivered instead?

Next up was the Northern Trust Open at Riviera CC in Pacific Palisades, Calif. For the past three years, Mickelson has commuted via jet, flying round trip from his home in San Diego to Santa Monica each day. Only in Mickelson's orbit is Los Angeles flyover country.

At Riviera he determined that his equipment wasn't the perpetrator, so he summoned his swing doctor, Butch Harmon, who caught a plane in Las Vegas and brought with him an Rx. Or at least an aspirin.

All of it contributed to the four-stroke lead on which Mickelson slept comfortably (in his own bed) Saturday night. The lead became five shots one hole into the final round, at which point he began to bounce around like a single-engine Cessna in a thunderstorm. Only birdies at 16 and 17 and a clutch par putt at 18 pulled him safely through it, allowing him to prevail over Steve Stricker by a single shot.

"It was not easy," Mickelson said, a statement that has come to define his fasten-your-seatbelt career. It was his 35th PGA Tour victory and one that for the moment answered the question proposed early last week by more than one media outlet: What's wrong with Phil Mickelson?

Is it even necessary to ask anymore? Shouldn't we have learned by now that his game comes and goes as it pleases, repelling monotony and keeping us gratefully transfixed?

So it was that Mickelson delivered another thrill ride, culminating in a victory to offset an indifferent start to the season that provided early-season fodder for his critics. The best he had to show from three previous starts was a tie for 42nd.

Riviera CC has become therapeutic in itself for Mickelson, who but for a 72nd-hole bogey two years ago might have been celebrating his third straight victory in an event he once eliminated from his schedule, his appreciation for the course notwithstanding. Once it occurred to him that his wherewithal allowed him the luxury of transforming this tournament into a home game, he returned it to his schedule, where it will remain indefinitely.

"Being able to stay at home the last three years has made a big difference for my performance," he said. "Just relaxing, not having to pack, not having to really travel, to be at home, to see my kids, to have dinner together a couple days. It just feels like I'm playing golf at home."

He cruised to an eight-under 63 in the first round, a bold statement that barely was heard above the din created an hour or so later by Tiger Woods' announcement that he was returning to competitive golf at the WGC-Accenture Match Play. Even from the sideline, Woods remains the dominant figure in golf.

Old reliable: A frequent contender and fan favorite in Los Angeles, Couples stayed in the hunt during the final round, eventually finishing T-3.

Mickelson's Thursday success likely deserved less-than-banner headlines anyway. It was only masking swing flaws that were exposed Friday, when he came back with a round of one-over 72 that had him calling Harmon before he even left the scorer's room. Harmon arrived Saturday morning and went to work on bringing stability to Mickelson's lower body. The results were immediate and apparent in a round of nine-under 62 that staked him to a four-stroke lead through 54 holes.

"I don't want to say that I'm back on track," Mickelson said Saturday afternoon, "but I have a direction of where I want to go. My iron play was much, much better because of it. I hit the ball well, the best I've hit it in a couple of months. I didn't have a lot of confidence heading into the round."

Mickelson doesn't travel with an entourage, but he can summon one should the need arise. Joining Harmon in answering Mickelson's plea for help last week were short-game guru Dave Pelz and former LPGA standout Amy Alcott, a Riviera member, who lent advice on the nuances of the greens. "My putting felt great," Mickelson said.