Tiger Converts in Red Zone

Red shirt, fist pumps and all, the PGA Tour swooshed back to normality Sunday at the Buick Invitational.

Tiger Woods, dressed in his familiar Sunday red, won, again. Phil Mickelson proved he is a not-quite-ready-for-prime-time player, again. And the rest of the players realized that no matter what equipment Woods uses, the gap between him and them is significant.

Woods, playing with Mickelson in a highly anticipated final round at Torrey Pines South Golf Course, shot a four-under-par 68 and blitzed the field with a four-round total of 16-under 272 for a four-stroke victory over Swede Carl Pettersson.

Mickelson, who criticized the equipment used by Woods in a magazine interview released last week, intensifying the already tenuous relationship between the two, made 10 consecutive pars to start his round and never was a factor. Consequently, what was supposed to be a dramatic tussle between the Nos. 1 and 3 players in the world never materialized.

Mickelson shot 72 and tied for fourth at 10 under. Woods, making his season debut after recovering from Dec. 12 knee surgery, got $810,000 for his 35th career PGA Tour victory and extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a victory to eight.

It was the third time he has won to start a season and he is suddenly fifth on the season money list, $1 million behind Ernie Els.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Woods said. “To have played 72 holes without being sore is a big positive, and to have won a tournament is another big positive. I hope I [answered a lot of questions]. I know I answered my questions. Mine was whether or not this knee would hold up for 72 holes. Each and every day, it got better.”

Mickelson began the day two shots behind Woods. Crowds lined the first fairway from tee to green and vocal fans chose sides. Mickelson saw his failure to chase down Woods in front of his home crowd as a learning experience.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have a great battle because I wasn’t really there much,” Mickelson said. “To me, that challenge of that journey of getting to that level to be able to compete and win against him is a fun challenge. The perception is ‘Oh, he lost another one to Tiger.’ I look at it as kind of a steppingstone in guidance on how to improve.”

Some accomplished veteran players -- Els, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III -- have had a field day starting this season without Woods, and even though none of those 2003 winners played here, Woods made it clear that he is still the man to beat on the tour.

Els won for the fifth time in six starts Sunday in the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic, stirring talk that the gap between Woods and the rest of the tour has closed. Those trying to catch Woods aren’t so sure.

“I saw some articles saying everyone is catching him; well nobody caught him today,” said Brad Faxon, who played with Woods and Mickelson, shot 69 and finished third at 11 under. “I think that kind of stuff motivates him.

“He’s got the complete game and the head on his shoulders is the best part of his game, so it’s impressive. He looked like he was playing three months straight. He was perfect.”

Woods started fast with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6. He took control when he stuck a 231-yard four-iron to within two feet on the par-three 11th made the putt and took a four-shot lead.

He followed with a routine par on the monstrous 12th. Then, after hitting a four-iron out of the rough to within 15 feet on the 15th and making a birdie for a five-shot lead, he pumped his fist and cruised home, his welcome-back party transformed into a victory parade.

“It’s a pretty good feeling,” Woods said. “Knowing the fact that I went out there and competed and beat everybody, that is a pretty great feeling.”

While Woods played steadily and took advantage of his opportunities, Mickelson was quite the opposite. He had trouble reeling in a wild driver and missed short birdie putts on Nos. 2 and 5. Mickelson hit only six of 14 fairways in the final round and hit only 12 of 18 greens in regulation.

“When he got off to a quick start and I couldn’t keep pace, I knew I was in trouble,” Mickelson said.

Both Woods and Mickelson downplayed the tension between them, but clearly they weren’t chummy.

On the front nine, with Mickelson still in contention, each spoke only to Faxon.

“I was Switzerland,” Faxon said.

Only when Woods took control of the tournament on the back nine did he and Mickelson engage in conversation, even joking around a bit.

“After his comments, you’ve got to put that aside,” Woods said. “You’ve got to go out there and compete. Whatever controversy there is, that’s out the door on the first tee because that’s not going to win the golf tournament.”

During pre-tournament putting practice, Woods and Mickelson danced around one another on the practice green. At the first tee, Woods greeted Mickelson, they exchanged scorecards, shook hands and wished one another good luck.

Woods then moved to the right side of the tee box, leaving Faxon and Mickelson on the left, and stood with arms crossed and alone with his thoughts.

After the round, he stood alone once again.

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Top Finishers

Tiger Woods...70-66-68-68 272 -16

Carl Pettersson...69-68-70-69 276 -12

Brad Faxon...70-64-71-72 277 -11

Briny Baird...70-65-72-71 278 -10

Arron Oberholser...65-70-72-71 278 -10

Phil Mickelson...69-68-69-72 278 -10

Complete scores...D14

UP NEXT ON PGA TOUR

NISSAN OPEN

at Riviera Country Club

Thursday-Friday, USA Network

Saturday-Sunday, Channel 7

Story, entries...D10

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Tiger Woods: By the Numbers

*--* Mark O’Meara...16 MOST VICTORIES ON PGA TOUR: Sam Snead...81 Jack Nicklaus...70 Ben Hogan...63 Arnold Palmer...60 Byron Nelson...52 Billy Casper...51 Walter Hagen...40 Cary Middlecoff...40 Gene Sarazen...38 Lloyd Mangrum...36 Tiger Woods...35 Tom Watson...34 Others who are active: Phil Mickelson...21 Nick Price...17

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CAREER MONEY LEADERS:

Tiger Woods...$33,913,852

Phil Mickelson...$22,614,944

Davis Love III...$21,041,975

Vijay Singh...$19,302,444

*--* Totals 35 83 112 131 TIGER WOODS’ CAREER VICTORIES BY YEAR: Year Wins Top 10 Top 25 Tournaments 1996 2 5 8 11 1997 4 9 14 21 1998 1 13 17 20 1999 8 16 18 21 2000 9 17 20 20 2001 5 9 18 19 2002 5 13 16 18 2003 1 1 1 1

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