Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson probably felt a little gutted Sunday afternoon after losing to Bill Haas in a three-man playoff during the final round of the Northern Trust Open, but at least he got a laugh from pulling off a rare pant-leg shot. Mickelson didn't have much to smile about Saturday as he watched his shot from the 15th tee at Riviera Country Club land among the gallery, but he couldn't help but laugh when he saw that the ball somehow made its way into the shorts of a fan. The fan was also having a good time -- he even stretched out on the ground to help Mickelson in his attempt to play the ball where it lay. In the end, the only one who really benefited from the errant shot was the fan, who received an autographed glove from the 40-time PGA Tour winner.

On a day when Augusta National needed no more magic, when the trees kept perfect posture, the sun glistened and the greens ran like Usain Bolt, the Magical Masters Man began pulling rabbits out of hats. Phil Mickelson shot 66. That wasn't the best score of the day. Sweden's Peter Hanson shot seven-under-par 65. Nor did it get Mickelson the lead. Hanson had him by a stroke at nine under par. But with due respect to Hanson and his marvelous round, Phil is Phil and this is the Masters and the only bigger story and emotional mover here might be Tiger Woods, had he made a run. But he was long gone, perhaps at the shop having repairs done to the clubs he has slammed and kicked this tournament, when Mickelson started running in birdie putts and sending the galleries into a frenzy.

A sport allegedly bereft of buzz certainly did unleash a whole bale of commotion Thursday. The familiar old Mickelson philharmonic righted some recent discordance and played Riviera Country Club by morning to the tune of eight-under-par 63. A fresh Woods blast came blaring into the Northern Trust Open from clear across the continent around 2 o'clock with the news Tiger Woods would return next week at the Accenture Match Play near Tucson.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Peter Hanson heard the full force of the roars. And because they were coming from directly behind him, he knew exactly whom they were for: Phil Mickelson. "That was one of those special kind of Masters moments that I've been watching so many times on TV," Hanson said of Saturday's eagle at No.13 that thrust Mickelson into a share of the lead. Then the Swedish pro went out and created his own noise. Hanson birdied No.14, then added three more down the stretch on the way to a seven-under-par 65 that propelled to him a one-stroke advantage over Mickelson with one round to play for a green jacket.

Phil Mickelson walks with big, long steps, meaning the eager golf fans, the ones waving scorecards and visors to be autographed, have to jog along to keep up. It's worthwhile exercise. Mickelson was in a signing mood Wednesday at Torrey Pines. For this Tiger Woods-less moment anyway, Mickelson is golf's biggest attraction. Today he begins his 19th season on the PGA Tour at the Farmers Insurance Open on the course he considers home. He spoke of personal issues, of Tiger issues, of club issues, of the state of his golf, his physique, his outlook on life, as easily as if every media member was a good buddy.

They spent nearly seven hours together Tuesday, Phil Mickelson and his short-game coach, Dave Pelz. In between all those practice chips and pitches at Bethpage Black, Pelz did his best to avoid the delicate topic -- the condition of Amy Mickelson, whose breast-cancer diagnosis prompted Phil to leave the PGA Tour for three weeks. "He and Amy have been through so much trauma and stress," Pelz said by telephone. "I wanted the day to be as different as possible. I wanted it to be normal."

CHASKA, Minn. -- Phil Mickelson might be looking for something else to do this weekend. Lefty was in danger of missing the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time since 1995 after struggling for a second straight day at Hazeltine National. An eagle on the par-5 No. 7 -- he started on the back nine -- helped his cause, but he's running out of holes. He was at 4 over for the tournament. Two other major champions were faring much better. Two birdies on the back nine got U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover to 4 under, while Vijay Singh is at 3 under after a bogey on his final hole.

Continuing its nine-century assault on the human race, the merciless Scottish concoction that goes by a four-letter word -- "golf" -- had taken yet another poor sap Friday and wrung him discombobulated. It had sicced its meanness even on a man who has won three major titles, 34 PGA Tour championships and $50.5 million, and it had left Phil Mickelson peeved and wondering how a dreamy 63 on Thursday could have led to a bloody 72 on Friday.

You might read how Phil Mickelson won Riviera's Northern Trust Open on Sunday, but that would be inaccurate. The golf tournament was actually won by Harry Houdini, dressed in clothes that made him look like Mickelson. Surrounded by the majesty that is Riviera -- a fabled clubhouse looking down from above and the surrounding hills alive with the sound of golf fans -- Mickelson-Houdini sank a six-foot putt on the 18th hole to win by a shot.

Phil Mickelson has a knack for finding creative routes to good places. He is commuting from his home in Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego, by flying his own plane into Santa Monica Airport, to play in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. While legions of others spend a couple of hours just negotiating the three miles up Sunset Boulevard from the course to the 405 Freeway (and that's not exaggerating), Mickelson makes it from door to course in 75 minutes. And once on the course, Mickelson has also found the right spots, sometimes from far-away places, twice holing out from off the green Friday After two rounds, Mickelson has a one-shot lead over Pat Perez, who tied for low round of the day with a 65 Friday.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — One is the proud owner of three green jackets, his most recent acquisition coming two years ago. Another is No.1 in the world ranking, and has been for 61 of the last 63 weeks. Feel free to include the only guy with two PGA Tour wins this year, who also happens to be the highest-ranked American. Or the man with six top-three finishes in the last 15 majors. Consider them the forgotten men of this Masters — Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald and Hunter Mahan. Although so much conversation around Augusta National has concentrated on Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, no fewer than half a dozen rivals are flying under the radar wondering where their names fit in the dialogue.

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, have listed their estate in Rancho Santa Fe for sale at $7.095 million. Encompassing 4.88 acres, the compound includes a 9,500-square-foot main house and two guesthouses. The one-level Tuscan-style house features mosaics, trussed beams, hand-carved stone fireplaces and Italian marble. There is an exercise room, a steam room, a sauna, a safe room, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The grounds contain a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen and, of course, a putting green.

The fans call their names. "Tiger, sign my arm," and "Please, Phil, sign my hat. " Yet it seems as if the most often-heard shout at professional golf tournaments televised by the Golf Channel and CBS is, "David, please, look this way. " Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. David Feherty. The three biggest rock stars in golf right now. Feherty was a golfer once too, a pretty good one, and he understands what it is like to be a star. He just wishes people would shut up about it sometimes.

Phil Mickelson probably felt a little gutted Sunday afternoon after losing to Bill Haas in a three-man playoff during the final round of the Northern Trust Open, but at least he got a laugh from pulling off a rare pant-leg shot. Mickelson didn't have much to smile about Saturday as he watched his shot from the 15th tee at Riviera Country Club land among the gallery, but he couldn't help but laugh when he saw that the ball somehow made its way into the shorts of a fan. The fan was also having a good time -- he even stretched out on the ground to help Mickelson in his attempt to play the ball where it lay. In the end, the only one who really benefited from the errant shot was the fan, who received an autographed glove from the 40-time PGA Tour winner.

Dead, solid silence. That was about what Bill Haas heard when he made a 45-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club with a dramatic flourish. It's not that Haas is an unpopular golfer. It's just that Haas' beautiful birdie denied Phil Mickelson a second consecutive tournament victory. Haas beat both Mickelson, who a week earlier had shot a closing-round 64 to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and Keegan Bradley in the playoff, and the crowd reacted as a group of 5-year-olds might when told that Santa Claus didn't exist.

It is the final hill of the mountain, golf's equivalent of the last 100 yards to the top of Everest. It is a picturesque canyon, a natural amphitheater for the viewing of hope and horror. It is the 18th hole at Riviera Country Club. There, on a Sunday afternoon filled with the usual excitement and drama of the final round of what is now known as the Northern Trust Open but is etched in the minds of local sports fans as the L.A. Open, Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley wrote a new chapter to the lore.

Reporting from Sheboygan, Wis. Now it all makes sense. For months golf's No. 1 ranking has sat there on a platter, ready to be consumed by Phil Mickelson. But based on Mickelson's play, you might have wondered whether he actually wanted to overtake Tiger Woods as the world's top-ranked player. Now we know otherwise. Mickelson revealed Tuesday at the PGA Championship that he is being treated for a form of arthritis that left him so debilitated, he could not get out of bed during a family vacation to Hawaii in late June.

About an hour after he'd quelled the tempest that can rage between his temples and birdied Nos. 16 and 17 and won, Phil Mickelson stood Sunday on a veranda at Riviera Country Club, grinning and signing serially for a throng that kept blurting its adoration. As the golf freaks and beer nuts and other fanatics walked away sated and the crowd thinned out, a young man held up toward Mickelson a paper plate covered with an upside-down paper plate.

Phil Mickelson and caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay made their chat about how to hook a nine-iron sound as lyrical as Shakespeare, and then Mickelson hit that shot on the par-three 16th hole just as discussed. The ball hooked and went round and round and landed about eight feet from the hole. Mickelson didn't make that birdie, but he made enough other putts Saturday to keep a portion of the lead after three rounds of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Keegan Bradley, the 25-year-old who won the PGA Championship at Atlanta Country Club last year to get his first major championship, joined Mickelson as co-leader after Saturday's third round.

Bryce Molder will be that other guy in Sunday's final group of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Molder will be playing with co-leaders Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley . Mickelson has won 40 PGA Tour events and is, next to Tiger Woods , the biggest draw for golf, in person and on television. Bradley is a rising American star who is only 25 and has won a major tournament (the 2011 PGA Championship). But Molder, who is tied for third with Jonathan Byrd and Pat Perez a shot behind the leaders, has won too. And even beaten Woods.