Mickelson Finds A Winning Cure at CA Championship

DORAL, Fla., March 15 -- Twenty hours after he walked out of a nearby urgent care center following treatment for heat exhaustion and mild dehydration Saturday night, Phil Mickelson had just enough strength left to lift the Wedgwood Gene Sarazen Trophy high over his head on the 18th green at Doral's Blue Monster course early Sunday evening.

The night before, he had needed two bags of intravenous fluids before his condition stabilized and he was allowed to return to his hotel room. On this day of gentle breezes and warming sun, Mickelson's bank account swelled accordingly with a transfusion of a $1.4 million winner's check, after he gamely prevailed in the CA Championship over 27-year-old Nick Watney, his playing partner in the final group, in what became a riveting match-play duel down the stretch.

"I was shaking for an hour" Saturday night, Mickelson said when asked what ailed him, adding that he hadn't been able to keep down food for three days because of what he described as a virus. "I had cold sweats. I was in bed for a half-hour shaking. I took a hot shower and that didn't do it, a hot bath, and almost burned myself trying to warm up. That's when I decided to go" to the hospital.

Watney had one last chance to tie Mickelson for the lead on the 72nd hole, but his 30-foot birdie putt, seemingly hit on the perfect line, stopped a half-roll short of diving into the cup. Mickelson had a 25-footer for one final birdie moments later, and he nearly holed that as well, his ball veering just right of the cup at the last moment. His two-inch tap-in for par secured the victory with his fourth round in the 60s in a week that should give him a huge boost in confidence less than a month before the Masters, the first major championship of the year.

"I honestly thought I was going to make it to the front edge," Watney said of his birdie putt at 18. "I tried to tell myself just to hit the ball like I normally would and not try to force it in or hit it extra hard. It was definitely a letdown. I know that Phil, as experienced as he is, he was going to close it out."

"I said before I played, 'Beware the ailing golfer,' " Mickelson said, adding that he never considered not playing. "I knew I was playing well. I didn't have the energy to look ahead or look at the leader board to see what other guys were doing. I was just worried about my own shots."

Mickelson walked most of the afternoon at a turtle's pace, taking liquids and trying to keep down a banana and half a sandwich. He ultimately prevailed with a final-round 69 and 19-under-par 269 to earn his first World Golf Championship title in 28 starts. Watney came in with a 70, his worst score of the week, and ended at 18-under 270 in only his second WGC event.

Mickelson also moved to the No. 2 position in the world rankings behind Tiger Woods, leapfrogging Sergio García, who tied for 31st place and is now No. 3. Woods posted his second straight 68 in his first stroke play tournament since undergoing left knee surgery last June and finished in a tie for ninth at 11-under 277.

"The good news is I got better each and every day," Woods said after a four-birdie, no-bogey round. "My ball-striking, my feel got better every day. To come out here each and every day and progress and get my feel for the short game, seeing shots, hitting shots. My distance control got better each and every day. I'm very happy with the way I played. I didn't say the way I finished . . . I've been away so long, I figured it would take me a lot longer to get back. But this week was a big week for me."

It also was huge for Mickelson. Two years ago, during this same tournament, he began working with Butch Harmon to re-tool his swing and avoid the more than occasional big-miss, scattershot drives, particularly under pressure. This week, Mickelson said he's never hit the ball longer or more accurately, and in the heat of intense pressure down the stretch this day, he hit perfect drives in the fairway on his final two holes to help seal the victory.

"I feel like I'm playing without the fear of a big miss," he said. "I feel comfortable now with our changes. We're always fine-tuning. But there's no more overhaul. It's just maintaining."

Mickelson and Watney, who were tied for the lead after 54 holes, took turns at the top in a round that included seven lead changes through the first 11 holes. When Watney hit his second shot in a greenside bunker at the 402-yard 11th hole and failed to sink a par-saving 15-foot putt, Mickelson made a routine two-putt par and held a one-shot lead. It was a lead he never relinquished, as neither man made a birdie over the final eight holes and both bogeyed No. 12, where left-hander Mickelson had to hit a shot right-handed from under a bush.

Watney, who won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines last month, had his moments. He holed out a blind 80-foot shot from deep grass behind the ninth green for an improbable birdie, then sank an eight-foot eagle putt at the 551-yard No. 10 to tie Mickelson for the final time at 20 under.

From there, both men struggled down the stretch on an afternoon when no one truly threatened to come from back in the pack, though veteran Jim Furyk, with five back-nine birdies, finished alone in third with a 67 and 16-under 272.

But this final round was all about Mickelson and Watney, who also bemoaned his own sloppy bogey at No. 12, when he left a shot in a greenside bunker from an awkward stance.

"Somebody asked me if I'm going to look back on the putt at 18," Watney said. "I'm going to look back at [No. 12]. I probably gave away two shots there. Disappointing . . . I've dreamed of moments like this, and in my dream it just comes out a little different."