Howell III Finally Wins
Charles Howell III finally got the 2nd win of his career and it wa a long-time coming. Howell III beat Phil Mickelson in a three-hole playoff at the Nissan Open in Los Angeles. It could be said that Mickelson gave the tournament away by making bogey on the 18th hole, but give Howell III credit because he shot a great 6-under 65 to put himself in contention.
Mickelson hit a few loose shots today, but it was his putting that let him down over the course of the day, and his usually-excellent chipping was suspect a few times as well. I don’t think it matters all that much in the bigger picture that Mickelson didn’t win, because he’s prepping himself for the Masters and he’s on-track to have a great tournament at this point.
There’s a WGC match play event this week in Tuscon and while Woods is more than likely favored, he doesn’t have that much of an advantage because he doesn’t have a long history of playing this particular venue so I think the tournament is wide open. And the fact that it’s match play means that anyone that gets hot, regardless of seeding position, can win the tournament.