T.J.'s Take: A super Sunday

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While the outcome of Super Bowl XLII left something to be desired -- specifically a win to complete the first 19-0 season in the history of the NFL by my New England Patriots -- it was one heck of a Sunday in the desert. Actually, I should say "deserts."

T.J. Auclair

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Let's start backwards to get the bad news out of the way first: Glendale, Ariz., Super Bowl XLII, Giants 17, Pats 14, too many bad commercials, blah, blah.

OK, now that that's over, we'll move on to the desert golf.

Just before kick-off in Glendale, a few miles away in Scottsdale, Phil Mickelson looked to be on the verge of his third win in the FBR Open. When Lefty wins in front of his fellow ASU Sun Devils it's every bit the spectacle as an ace on golf's loudest hole, No. 16 at the TPC Scottsdale.

There was Lefty in the clubhouse with a one-shot lead, watching J.B. Holmes play his second shot from the left rough.

People may have been ready to leave the course and cozy up in front of a TV for the Super Bowl, but not Holmes. The third-year PGA TOUR pro who won the FBR Open as a rookie in 2006 ended up making his first birdie of the week on No. 18 to force a playoff against the No. 2 player in the world.

Sure, both players had won on this track before, but World No. 2 versus then-World No. 197 in a sudden-death playoff? With all due respect to Mr. Holmes, I'd have to give the nod to Phil.

Call it a foreshadowing of things to come on Sunday, because much like the Pats in the Super Bowl few probably expected the outcome at the FBR Open. What is it about that desert?

The first hole of the playoff would be No. 18 and it would also be the last hole of the playoff. Mickelson hit a decent tee shot with a three-wood. Holmes absolutely nuked and I mean NUKED a driver down the heart of the fairway, leaving not more than a sand-wedge to the hole.

Mickelson's approach sailed to the back of the green, while Holmes delivered a beautiful shot that stopped about 10 feet from the cup. Minutes later, Mickelson missed his birdie try and Holmes buried his with authority.

Game over. Win No. 2 for Holmes.

My Sunday started bright and early. After a late night out with friends on Saturday, I wasn't exactly thrilled when my alarm sounded around 7:30 a.m. But, you've got to do what you've got to do.

There was work to be done. As if this job wasn't enjoyable enough, the early wake-up call certainly meant something more than nursing my inevitable headache sooner rather than later. It meant I would be able to watch GOLF CHANNEL's coverage of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Here's what I knew before I went to bed hours before turning on the computer and flipping on the tube -- Ernie Els would have a four-shot lead on Tiger Woods with 18 holes left to play in Dubai. After knowing that was the case, here's what I thought before I went to bed -- with Tiger on the tear he's been on lately, he could certainly come back, but it was just last year that Ernie laid out his three-year plan to take over the No. 1 spot (go ahead, laugh). So, it's time for Ernie to make a statement. If he can beat Tiger today, like he's supposed to with a four-shot lead to start, maybe just maybe, we'll see Ernie back to the form we remember from the man who's won three major championships and perhaps he can reach a far more realistic goal of challenging for No. 2 in the world.

The downside of this business is being on top of the news. As I sipped my morning coffee and wiped the cloudiness from my eyes, I went and checked the AP wire. Turns out what I was watching on GOLF CHANNEL wasn't live. It had already ended. Somehow, someway, Tiger birdied six of his last nine holes, highlighted by a 40-footer on the last to shoot a final-round 7-under-par 65 to win in regulation at 14 under by one shot over Martin Kaymer and two better than Els.

My knowledge of what had already happened didn't make it any less exciting to watch, but did lead to two hours of fun.

Shortly after reading Dubai the wrap story, a very close friend who played on the Nationwide Tour last season called to see what I was up to.

"Working," I said. "How about you?"

"Actually, just sitting here watching Ernie about to beat Tiger for a change," he said.

"Really? And what makes you think that?" I asked.

"Well, I guess it's because Ernie's got a pretty big lead and Tiger just bogeyed No. 9 to fall to 8 under."

I told my friend that was old news. The tournament was already over. Did he want to know how it ended?

"Man, Ernie blew it? So who won, Graeme McDowell? Ernie can't catch a break!" he said.

"Umm, no. Ernie did blow it a little bit, but not as badly as he had it taken away from him by Tiger," I told him.

"Shut up," he said. "What was the winning mark?"

"Tiger got it to 14 red," I said.

"No, see T, that's impossible. Now I know you're busting my chops because I just told you he was 8 under at the turn," he said. "So that would mean he needed six birdies in nine holes to get to 14 red."

"What's your point?" I asked. "This is Tiger we're talking about."

My friend decided to get off the phone and watch for himself since he didn't believe me -- even after I snuck in a shameless plug and told him he could read all about it right then on PGATOUR.com. He decided it would be more fun to watch because he had to see it to believe it.

About two hours later, my phone rang again and, again, it was this friend.

"T.J., do you have it on the Dubai tournament still?"

"Yes," I said.

"OK, see? You told me Tiger won at 14 under," he said. "But, did you just see him muff that chip behind the green at 18? That means he needs to knock in this 40-foot bomb for birdie to get to 14. So you meant to say he won at 13?"

"No, man. I meant what I said the first time -- he won at 14."

Again, he told me, "shut up!" and hung up the phone.

Three minutes later when the coverage came back to the 18th hole, sure as the Patriots winning after a fourth-quarter drive led by Tom Brady (remember, this was Sunday morning, so the last part of that didn't change for another 12 hours and this column's been written backwards), Tiger deftly dropped the 40-footer center-cut, nothing but net. Cue the fist-pumps. Roll the credits.

Before the ball hit the bottom of the cup, the phone rang again. Same friend.

"Dude, Tiger Woods is just dirty. That was stupid. Just ridiculously stupid."

And the line went dead.