PGA Results: 2012 Northern Trust Open

Another great weekend of professional golf on TV this past weekend. PGA Tour Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley came into the final round tied for the lead of the Northern Trust Open in LA, CA.  It looked to be a duel between those two, but Bradley faltered at the first and dropped down the leaderboard.  Mickelson played steady, but didn't make any lengthy putts like he had in his win the previous week at Pebble Beach.  Bradley came back on the back nine however. In the last few holes it became a 3-horse race, as 2011 FedEx Cup winner Bill Haas took the lead into the clubhouse at -7.  Mickelson and Bradley (paired together) had to make birdie on the extremely difficult 18th hole at Riviera to force a playoff.  In grand fashion, both did in fact make huge birdie putts which caused the crowd to erupt. In the playoff all three players made par on the 1st playoff hole, the 18th.  Next came the very tricky and short 10th, a drive-able par-4 of barely over 300 yards.  10's difficultly is at the green, where the perfect angle is necessary to get any sort of 2nd shot close to the hole.  Mickelson and Bradley both hit 3-wood, short right for Phil and in a greenside bunker for Keegan.  Haas hit driver past the green.  Haas was the only player able to get his 2nd shot to stay on the green, and he didn't even aim for the flag.  He smartly put his ball on the surface some 25 feet away, knowing how difficult Bradley's and Mickelson's 2nd shots were.  Mickelson's super-flop bounced over the green and went in the back bunker, while Bradley's excellent bunker shot ended up on the back fringe. Haas was farther out than Mickelson, so he putted before Phil hit his bunker shot.  Unexpectedly, Haas drained the birdie, forcing the hands of Bradley and Mickelson.  They had to hole out their next shots or Haas would win.  Phil's bunker shot came up short and Bradley's fringe putt missed.  The only player who could hit a drive-able par-4 green in regulation ended up being the winner. Nationwide Tour I failed to mention last week during the weekend preview, that the 2012 Nationwide Tour season began this past weekend in Bogota, Columbia. Skip Kendall became the 4th oldest winner on the Nationwide Tour (47) with the win at the country Club of Bogota. Champions Tour Kenny Perry could be starting what may be a dominating season on the Champions Tour.  He certainly dominated this past weekend at the ACE Group Classic with rounds of 64, 62 and 70 to win by a large five shot margin over Bernhard Langer. With the first two rounds Perry broke the Champions Tour's 36 hole scoring record.  He also tied the tournament scoring record at -20. LPGA Tour Yani Tseng hasn't lost a beat from last season.  World #1 Tseng successfully defended her 2011 Honda LPGA Thailand championship this past weekend with a one stroke victory over Ai Miyazato (-19). No reason not to believe Tseng will continue to dominate in 2012.