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PEBBLE BEACH, California (Ticker) -- Phil Mickelson has been close to
victory in two starts this season and he will be favored to break
through when he tees it up at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am starting
Thursday.
The world's second-ranked player, Mickelson is coming off a loss in a
playoff at the FBR Open on Sunday. He tied for sixth at the Buick
Invitational and rallied from four-shots off the pace on Sunday before
losing to J.B. Holmes.
Despite coming up empty in his first two events, Mickelson has been on
his game. Five of his last six rounds have been 68 or better and he is
coming to the perfect event to keep his hot streak going.
"I played OK in my first week and I played better in Phoenix," Mickelson said. "I feel like my game is improving.
"I'm looking forward to Pebble. I feel like I'm starting to play better
each round as the year goes on and I expect to improve my play this
week, too."
The defending champion, Mickelson has won this event three times. Last
year he was tied for the lead after each of the first three rounds
before firing a closing 66 to finish five strokes clear of Kevin
Sutherland.
Mickelson also still is reeling from coming up short last week.
"It's disappointing because that tournament has a special place in my
heart and I love playing there," said Mickelson, an Arizona native. "I
love coming out and doing well and I would have loved to have won it
again."
Tiger Woods is skipping the event after winning his second straight
tournament of the season in Dubai on Sunday. That leaves Mickelson as
the highest-ranked player in the field and he will be joined by Davis
Love III, reigning British Open champion Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk,
Holmes and Vijay Singh.
Love, who has not played any golf since the end of September due to a severe left-ankle injury, is making hi season debut.
A two-time winner of the event, Love underwent surgery during the first
week of October and has undergone an extensive rehab program. He was
injured when he stepped in a hole during a casual round and severely
injured his ankle.
Harrington is playing in just his third tournament in the last 10
weeks. And despite being a major champion, the Irishman again is
re-tooling his swing as he makes his season debut on the PGA Tour.
"You would think winning a major would mellow you," he said. "It's done
the opposite to me. It's made me even more obsessive. There's a huge
incentive to push on. I don't think I have that attitude of some guys
who are trying to prove they deserved to win it. But I certainly have
the attitude that I really want to win another.
"It would have been nice to chill out and take some of the glory of it
all and be confident. But that's not the way my system works."
Greg Norman also is in the field this week and will be making his first
PGA Tour start since the 2006 International. It will be just the sixth
time in his career that Norman has played in the tournament and his
first since 1992.
"It's great to be back," Norman said. "I haven't played here since 1992
and I can say that the golf course is by far the best I've ever seen
it."
Former champion Arron Oberholser pulled out on Tuesday because of bursitis in his right shoulder.
First prize at the $6 million event is $1.080 million.
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