Northern Trust Open: Not double the fun for J.B. Holmes

J.B. Holmes, the Kentuckian who was one of nine co-leaders after Thursday, finished his second round Friday in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club with a respectable two-day total of six-under 136 after a two-under second-round score of 69. He is two shots behind leader Fred Couples, the 51-year-old whose back seems about as sturdy as one made out of popsicle sticks.

And Holmes could easily have been tied with Couples except for an unsightly double-bogey six on his final hole, the par-four, 475-yard 18th. After a drive that went into the right fairway, Holmes' second shot found the left rough. Holmes had to play safe and get back on the fairway with his third shot; a bad chip left him well short and he missed a seven-foot bogey putt.

Right now another first-day co-leader, John Senden, has moved into a tie for second with Holmes, with a trio of birdie threes on the front nine. The Aussie was momentarily alone in second before he bogeyed the par-four eighth hole.

Two-time Northern Trust champion Phil Mickelson is finished for the day tied for 31st at one-under after a one-under round of 70.

Mickelson said his biggest disappointment Friday was on the par-five 11th when he had to settle for a five after making a bad decision on where to drop his ball when it landed on a cart path. "I dropped it on a sprinkler head," Mickelson said."

Though he was seven shots behind Couples, Mickelson said he was optimistic. "I figured something out the last three holes in my setup and I struck it much more solid," he said. "So I think I'll be able to get it dialed in tomorrow."

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: J.B. Holmes hits his second shot on the 12th hole at Riviera Country Club during the second round of the Northern Trust Open on Friday: Credit: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

Northern Trust Open: Bubba Watson's (un)lucky number five

Bubba Watson, who won his second-ever PGA Tour event three weeks ago at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open, finished his first nine -- the back nine -- Thursday at the Northern Trust Open with a three-over 39 that included five fives. Three of those fives were bogeys, so Watson is at the moment tied for 121st and seven shots behind the leaders.

Venezuelan rookie Jhonattan Vegas, who tied for third at Torrey Pines and who won his first-ever event last month at the Bob Hope Classic, is even par after his first seven holes, same as two-time champion Phil Mickelson, who has completed eight holes at Riviera Country Club.

-- Diane Pucin

Northern Trust Open: Tiger Woods not here but will play next week

Tiger Woods hasn't played the Northern Trust open at Riviera Country Club since 2006, and he's not here in 2011, but Woods did make some golf news Thursday when he announced on his website what was expected: He will play his second tournament in the U.S. this year at the Accenture Match Play championships at Dove Mountain near Tucson next week.

Meanwhile, among those playing at Riviera (including five of the top 10 in the world), some of the later tee-time guys making moves up the leaderboard include 41-year-old veteran K.J. Choi of South Korea, who is three-under after his first nine, and Kevin Na, who was born in South Korea but is now an American citizen who lives in Rancho Cucamonga. He is also three-under through five holes and just birdied the par-three fourth hole. They are a shot behind five co-leaders who have finished with four-under 67s.

Two-time tournament winner Phil Mickelson, who started with back-to-back birdies to quickly jump to two-under, is now one-over after bogeying three of four holes (12, 14 and 15; Mickelson began on the back nine).

-- Diane Pucin

 Photo: Tiger Woods. Credit: Kamran Jebreili / Associated Press

Northern Trust Open: John Senden's 67 came after warm-up in the dark.

John Senden, who is from Brisbane, Australia, teed off at 7:11 a.m. Thursday in the first round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. Senden came early to warm up and said he was on the putting green about 6:15 in the morning, when it was cold and dark.

"Basically there were no lights up there," Senden said. "There was very dim light coming up from the sun at that time, but I don't think the sun gets up until after 6:30. I hit a few putts on the green and saw the lights on on the [driving] range so that was fine. But warming up in the dark wasn't the greatest of experiences."

Maybe loosening the stroke pre-dawn is good though, because Senden so far is a four-way co-leader of the tournament, with his four-under 67 tying Martin Laird, fellow Aussie Robert Allenby and Spencer Levin, a 26-year-old from Sacramento who has yet to win on the PGA Tour.

Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner here, started his first round with birdies on Nos. 10 and 11, but he bogeyed the par-four 12th to stand at one-under par. Also just starting out, both Bill Haas and David Duval have eagled the par-five first hole.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: John Senden. Credit: Stuart Franklin / Getty Images

Northern Trust Open: Phil Mickelson tees off; John Senden, Martin Laird, Padraig Harrington in and under par

John Senden, a 39-year-old from Brisbane, Australia, who has one PGA Tour victory in his career, is tied for the early lead Thursday at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club with Scotland's Martin Laird. Senden and Laird finished the first round with rounds of four-under-par 67.

Also finished and only a shot behind is three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, who considered himself pleased with his three-under start of 68. Harrington, a 29-year-old Irishman who has won the British Open twice and the PGA Championship once, counted an eagle three on the short par-five first hole as his best first-round moment.

Two-time Riviera winner Phil Mickelson began his round in the afternoon and birdied his first hole, the par-four 10th. He is two-under after two holes.

Dustin Johnson, who led here last year after the first and second rounds, finished with a two-over 73. Johnson was penalized two shots for being late for his 7:32 a.m. tee time. According to PGA Tour officials, Johnson was on the driving range when his group was scheduled to start. He did arrive within the five-minute window allowed before a player is disqualified. Johnson told the Golf Channel that he was "misinformed" about his tee time, seemingly a shot at his caddy. But his caddy didn't take the two-shot hit.

-- Diane Pucin

 

Northern Trust Open has begun

It's not raining yet and it's early, but birdies are being made as some of the contenders have navigated three or four holes of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club Thursday morning.

Showing that momentum can linger after a big win and a couple of days off, University of Illinois grad D.A. Points, through five holes, is one shot behind the leaders at one-under-par after a birdie on the par-four third hole. Points put his approach shot about eight feet from the pin and made a confident birdie putt.

Australian Michael Sim (through nine), Chris DeMarco (through eight) and Steve Marino (through six) are tied for the lead at two-under par. Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington is one of the large group at one-under.

Defending champion Steve Stricker is one-over after five holes, and two-time champion Phil Mickelson doesn't tee off until 12:12 p.m.

-- Diane Pucin

 

Tiger Woods, Rocco Mediate together again at Torrey Pines

Even some hardened and cynical sports fans got emotional at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines when Tiger Woods, limping badly and grimacing after many shots, battled through 72 holes of regulation, then an entire extra round of 18 holes on Monday plus another sudden-death hole against Rocco Mediate, who is 48 now and who was golf-old then, at the U.S.Open.

Woods won, finally, and broke down. He spoke of missing his father Earl and of his physical pain and it made the then world's best golfer likable. Since then almost everyone is aware of what's happened. Woods has had knee surgeries and physical problems and a very public scandal involving marital infidelity and divorce that has cost him almost two lost seasons of golf.

So here Woods comes again, to Torrey Pines, where he will open his 2011 season at the place where he last starred as a golfer and has won seven times. And with whom is he paired? Mediate. And Anthony Kim. The trio will play together Thursday and Friday. It is a grouping Commissioner Tim Finchem said Tuesday made with television in mind.  It made Mediate smile too.

While many others in the field were playing practice rounds Tuesday, Woods wasn't expected to arrive until Tuesday evening. On Wednesday he will play the Zurich Pro-Am, teeing off at 11 a.m. on the South Course with Robert Allenby.

Woods, Mediate and Kim will tee off at 9 a.m. on the 10th tee of the North Course at 9 a.m. Thursday and from the No. 1 tee of the South Course at 10 a.m. on Friday.

Other notable pairings include John Daly, who briefly announced his retirement on his television show on the Golf Channel here last year, Boo Weekley and Jesper Parnevik, who was critical of Woods' behavior last fall; new Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, Stewart Cink and Bubba Watson; Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose; and Bob Hope Classic winner Jhonattan Vegas, Charley Hoffman and Nick Watney.

-- Diane Pucin reporting from La Jolla

 

Tiger Woods falls to No. 3 ranking in the world

Tiger Woods is not even No. 2 in the world golf rankings.

He has dropped to No. 3 after Martin Kaymer won in Abu Dhabi and overtook him for the No. 2 spot. Lee Westwood is ranked No. 1.

Kaymer has been No. 3 but advanced by winning the European Tour event by eight strokes in his first tournament this year. Woods begins his 2011 season on Thursday at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

"We'll see how long it takes him to overtake me again," Kaymer said after his victory Sunday.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson dropped to No. 5 in the rankings. He had been sharing fourth with U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who tied for third in Abu Dhabi.

Mickelson finished 37th Sunday. He says he doesn't dwell on the rankings and is concentrating on the upcoming majors. He, too, will play at Torrey Pines this week.

--Associated Press

Photo: Tiger Woods during the final round of the HSBC Champions tournament in November. Credit: Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images

Jason Day takes lead, Tiger Woods in middle of pack at Deutsche Bank Championship

And on the third day, Tiger Woods was neither good nor bad at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. He was right in the middle as he shot a two-under-par 69 and finished the third round 10 shots behind leader Jason Day of Australia.

Day shot a 66 and equaled the tournament record for 54 holes with a 17-under 196. Brandt Snedeker, who chipped in on the par-five 18th to save par for a 67, is one shot back at 16 under. The rest of the leaderboard has Luke Donald at 15 under, Steve Stricker and Charley Hoffman at 13 under and Phil Mickelson leading a group of four tied at 12 under.

"I played great today and [made] just one little mistake," said Day, 22, who won his only PGA Tour event in May. "Overall I feel very happy with how I played and how I handled myself. Tomorrow I'm just going to try to do what I did today."

Woods, who opened the tournament Friday with three birdies and four bogeys but rebounded Saturday with his first bogey-free round of the year, had a bogey on each side Sunday to offset his four birdies on the TPC Boston course. His treading water in the third round puts his world No. 1 ranking in jeopardy again, with Mickelson and Stricker each within striking distance.

"Overall today I think I played better than what my score indicated," Woods said. "I had a lot of putts that I didn't make today. I made a couple nice par putts, but boy, I missed a lot of birdie putts. I kept getting double-breaking putts.

"I had to really grind and stay committed to what I was doing out there. I did it for the most part. Early on I was struggling a little bit, but fixed it, got it, and hit a lot of good shots after that."

-- Dan Loumena

Times wire services contributed to this report.

Photo: Jason Day hits his approach on the 13th hole Sunday. Credit: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images

Phil Mickelson reveals he has form of arthritis that made it difficult to walk

Phil Mickelson is being treated for a form of arthritis that at one point left him in so much pain he struggled to walk, the world's No. 2-ranked golfer revealed Tuesday.

But he added that he feels much better going into this week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Mickelson said he experienced such intense pain in his joints days before the U.S. Open that he had difficultly walking. He wound up finishing fourth in that tournament.

After consulting with specialists, Mickelson has been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. He has started treatment and taking medication.

“Things have been looking great and long term there shouldn't be any issues,” said Mickelson, who has a chance to take over the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in his career this weekend. “It's very treatable and the medicine I've been taking has been very helpful. I feel 90 percent.”

-- Chuck Schilken

Reuters contributed to this report.

Photo: Phil Mickelson speaks to reporters on Tuesday. Credit: Matt Sullivan / Reuters

British Open: First- and second-round groupings

Tiger Woods and Justin Rose of England will play in the same group for the first two rounds of the British Open for the first time since 2002 at Muirfield.

Back then Woods was on a hot streak, going for the third leg of a calendar Grand Slam.

This time it's Rose who is on a roll -- he won the Memorial, had the 54-hole lead in his next tournament, then triumphed two weeks ago at the AT&T National. Meanwhile, Woods has not won since returning from a five-month hiatus earlier this year.

Camilo Villegas of Colombia is the other player in that group, which tees off at 1:09 a.m. PDT.

U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who recently won the Wales Open and the U.S. Open, is in the same group with two other U.S. Open champions, Geoff Ogilvy and Jim Furyk.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson will play with Colin Montgomerie, the Ryder Cup captain who was runner-up to Woods at St. Andrews five years ago, and Retief Goosen, who denied Mickelson a U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills in 2004.

Lee Westwood, who at No. 3 in the world is the highest-ranked European, will play with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Adam Scott. Defending Open champion Stewart Cink is with Ernie Els and Ian Poulter.

Tom Watson, the runner-up a year ago at Turnberry, is playing with 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan and two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington.

British Open tee times for first / second rounds (all times PDT):