This Sunday Driver Leaves 'Em All Behind

One by one they fell away like spare parts, leaving Phil Mickelson in the clear. Ernie Els went quickly, over par all day. Chad Campbell came back to the pack early yesterday and never threatened again. Rocco Mediate got hot for a bit -- birdie, birdie, birdie on 6, 7 and 8 -- then killed himself with a 10 on No. 12. For a while Miguel Angel Jimenez was closer to Phil than he's been to a barber lately. When Jimenez faded, fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal caught fire, going birdie, birdie, eagle on 13, 14 and 15. But Ollie bogeyed 16 before Phil ever felt him coming.

Retief Goosen started too deep into the back nine to really matter. Vijay and Tiger never got started. Vijay seemed to be on autopilot. Tiger's putter crushed him, especially on eagle putts on 13 and 15. "I putted like a spaz," Tiger would say later. Finally, Fred Couples, who was next to Mickelson all day, three putted from three feet on 14. Suddenly Phil, solid as steel through 31 holes yesterday, was all by himself.

As Phil stood on the tee on No. 15, he was minus-7. And there below him on the first page of the leader board were Couples, Woods, Olazabal and Goosen, tied at minus-4. Among them they had seven green jackets and four U.S. Opens. But after Phil birdied 15, they were too far back in his rearview mirror to see clearly.

Phil was out there in black again on Sunday in Augusta, just as he was in black two years ago on Sunday in Augusta when he finally broke through in a major. Who knows if he's the old Gary Player, or the new Johnny Cash? And who knows ultimately what Phil's Sunday black will be to Tiger's Sunday red? But this is three majors in the last nine tries for Phil, and two in a row. In this, the month of the ponytail, with Joakim Noah and Kristi Toliver, Phil may be growing a ponytail of his own with that bushy flip 'do in the back. Or maybe he's just letting his freak flag fly. Either way, right now, today, and perhaps just for today, he's the best golfer in the world. (By the way, I think I called this one. And I'd grow a ponytail, too, if only I could.)