NOTHING SECOND-RATE ABOUT HOWELL'S PLAY BEATS MICKELSON IN PLAYOFF TO BREAK STRING OF 2ND-PLACE FINISHES.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer PACIFIC PALISADES Palisades, cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). -- Charles Howell III Charles Gordon Howell III (born June 20, 1979) is an American golfer. Howell was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, the home town of the Masters Tournament. He was a member of Augusta Country Club, which is adjacent to Amen Corner at Augusta National Golf Club. now has something his good friend Tiger Woods  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. doesn't: a win at Riviera Country Club The Riviera Country Club is a country club with a championship golf course. It is located in Pacific Palisades, California, within the city limits of Los Angeles, California. The country club opened in 1926, with George C. Thomas, Jr. as the course architect. .
Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) (nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed), is an American professional golfer. He is one of the leading players of his generation, having won three major championships and a total of 32 had the Nissan Open The Northern Trust Open, formally known as the Nissan Open and originally known as the Los Angeles Open, is a regular golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played annually in February in Pacific Palisades, California. under control but stumbled down the stretch Sunday and bogeyed the 18th hole, while Howell, who started the day three shots back, snuck snuck v. Usage Problem A past tense and a past participle of sneak. See Usage Note at sneak. his way up the leader board. Howell trailed Mickelson by four shots after 12 holes, but his unusually steady putter, coupled with Mickelson's uncharacteristically shaky short game, was enough to force a playoff. Howell parred the third playoff hole -- making a 3-foot putt after Mickelson missed from 10 feet -- to give him just his second PGA Tour The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the USA's main professional golf tours. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA. Its name is officially rendered in all caps as “PGA TOUR". victory. Howell, 27, shot a final-round 6-under 65 on what he said is his second- favorite golf course and won $936,000. Mickelson shot a 3-under 68. "To finally win here, I'm speechless," Howell said. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world right now." Howell had seemed like the unluckiest guy on the tour for a while. He had nine second-place finishes since his last -- and only -- victory, the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill The Michelob Championship at Kingsmill was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2002. It was played at Kingsmill Golf Club (River Course), Williamsburg, Virginia from 1981 to 2002 and at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, California from 1968 to 1980. in 2002. He finished second to Woods at the Buick Invitational last month and in a tie for second at the Sony Open to start the season. When Howell's putt fell in the cup on the final playoff hole, the par-3 14th, he didn't jump on a car or pump his fists. He simply looked up and closed his eyes. The look had relief written all over it. "I said a prayer before I hit the putt," Howell said. "You know, I said, 'It's time, let's go in."' Howell has been on a tear this season. In five events, he already has won $2 million and leads the money list and FedEx Cup points list. Howell has said his main priority during the early part of the season is qualifying for the Masters, which is played in his hometown of Augusta, Ga. This victory virtually assures him a spot in the season's first major -- with the winner's paycheck providing a nice added bonus. Howell made seven birdies and one bogey Sunday. He made his big move on the back nine as he birdied the 14th, 16th and 17th holes, twoof which are par-3s. He birdied the 14th by making a 17-foot putt and the 16th with a 33-footer. He was on the green in two on No. 17 and two-putted from 49 feet for birdie. He wasn't spectacular on the playoff holes, but neither was Mickelson. They both parred the first playoff hole, which was the 18th. Howell had to make a 6-footer for par after Mickelson parred the hole. They continued to the 10th, where Howell lost a playoff to Mike Weir at the Nissan in 2003 by missing a 6-foot putt. Howell said he thought about that debacle just before the playoff started. He hit his tee shot left and onto a cart path behind the trees. He opted to hit instead of taking a drop, and his ball just clipped the tree branches and advanced just 16 yards. He chipped to within two feet and made the putt. "We have a love-hate relationship love-hate relationship Ambivalence Psychiatry A clinical complex characterized by Freudian impulses; love-hate is normal for children passing through the 'anal-sadistic' phase of development, in which there is often simultaneous love and 'murderous' hatred toward ," Howell said of the hole afterward. On the par-3 14th, Mickelson and Howell both came up short of the green on their tee shot. Mickelson, who was 52 feet away, used his putter on the fringe On The Fringe is a popular Pakistani television show on Indus Music. It is hosted and scripted by the eccentric television host and music critic, Fasi Zaka and directed by Zeeshan Pervez. , and it hopped up hopped up Drug slang A popular phrase for being influenced by drugs on the edge and was 10 feet short, from where he missed his par putt. Howell chipped to within three feet and sank the putt to save par and win. Howell said he wasn't preoccupied with all the near-misses over the past few years. "If you look at the state of where my golf game was in the middle of last summer, I would have cut my arm off for a second-place finish," Howell said. "They were looking pretty darn good. No, I kept looking at it as I'm getting closer. I'm getting closer. "The second at 84 Lumber (Classic) toward the end of last year was really important for me to get an affirmation that I'm starting to get back. And then to start this year off this way, I knew I was close." Howell can go back to Orlando, Fla., and show off his trophy to Woods, who is 0 for 9 as a pro at the Nissan. Woods skipped the tournament for just the second time since he turned pro. Howell, who has been to Woods' home and sat and stared at his collection of major trophies, said he won't do any trash talking. "I guess he doesn't have a Nissan Open trophy, but he's got every (other) one on me," Howell said. "-- I can't give him any (grief), are you kidding me?" But Howell finally did ditch the moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. of second-place finisher. And there's no kidding in that. jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) SECOND TO NONE Hard-luck Howell finally break through, wins Nissan Open on third playoff hole (2) With his victory at Riviera on Sunday, Charles Howell III virtually assures himself of a spot in the Masters in April. (3) Phil Mickelson barely misses a putt from just off the green on No. 18 that would have given him a playoff victory. John McCoy/Staff Photographer Box: (1) FOURTH-ROUND: HOW HOWELL AND MICKELSON FARED (2) PLAYOFF |
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