Northern Trust Open: Final-Round Notebook

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Feb. 17, 2008
By Stewart Moore and Joan Alexander, PGA TOUR Staff

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Phil Mickelson carded a final-round 70 Sunday to capture the Northern Trust Open by two shots over Jeff Quinney. With his win, Mickelson picks up 4,500 FedExCup points and moves into first place on the FedExCup points list with 8,069 points. J.B. Holmes, who was number one on the list coming into the week, fell back to second after a T7 finish this week and sits 2,306 points behind Mickelson with 5,763 points. Quinney picked up 2,700 points and moved from 63rd to 13th on the points list and now has 3,479 points for the year.

Phil Mickelson has moved into 13th place on the all-time victory list. (Dunn/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Career PGA TOUR Wins

Player	Total
1. Sam Snead	82
2. Jack Nicklaus	73
3. Ben Hogan	64
T4. Arnold Palmer	62
T4. Tiger Woods	62
6. Byron Nelson	52
7. Billy Casper	51
8. Walter Hagen	45
9. Cary Middlecoff	40
T10. Gene Sarazen	39
T10. Tom Watson	39
12. Lloyd Mangrum	36
13. Phil Mickelson	33
14. Horton Smith	32

• Mickelson becomes the fifth 36-hole leader/co-leader in seven events on the 2008 PGA TOUR to go on and win that week, joining K.J. Choi (Sony Open), D.J. Trahan (Bob Hope Chrysler Classic), Tiger Woods (Buick Invitational), and J.B. Holmes (FBR Open).

• With his 33rd career PGA TOUR title, Mickelson moves into solo 13th on the list of all-time TOUR winners. He moved past Horton Smith, who also had 32 victories.

• Prior to this year, Mickelson had competed nine times in the Northern Trust Open (including once as an amateur) without a win. Among current events, Mickelson has played 17 U.S. Opens, 15 British Opens, 15 Justin Timberlake Shriners (Las Vegas) and 10 BMW Championships without a victory.

• Mickelson's win marks the 11th year in his 17-year PGA TOUR career in which he has recorded at least one win and one runner-up finish (FBR Open) in a single season.

• Jeff Quinney's runner-up finish is the best of his two-year PGA TOUR career. Since becoming a member of the TOUR in 2007, $1,269,963 of Quinney's $2,461,325 in earnings have come in events held in the state of California. In addition, four of his six career top-10 finishes have come in the state of California.

• After making a hole-in-one at the par-3 sixth on Saturday, Quinney followed it up with a birdie on Sunday and in turn played the hole in 4-under for the week.

• Ryuji Imada's tie for fifth is his second top-5 effort of the 2008 season (second, Buick Invitational) and marks the first time in his four-year PGA TOUR career that he has recorded multiple top-5 finishes.

• Riviera Country Club's 503-yard par-5 first hole played to an average of 4.422 this week, making it the easiest hole on the course and the fifth easiest on the PGA TOUR thus far in 2008. On the contrary, the historic par-3 fourth played to an average of 3.339, thus making it the most difficult hole for the week and the third most difficult hole on TOUR this year (tied with the par-4 fifth at Poppy Hills).

• Mickelson earns his 33rd career PGA TOUR victory at the age of 37 years, 8 months and 1 day in his 349th TOUR event as a professional and 367th overall TOUR event.

• His victory comes in his 10th start at the Northern Trust Open. He has made six cuts, with the win representing his second top-10 finish. He also finished runner-up in 2007, when he lost in a playoff to Charles Howell III.

• Mickelson has won for the first time in 2008 in just four starts and improved his season earnings to $1,944,700. He moves to the top of the season money list. His winner's check of $1,116,000 moves him to No. 2 on the all-time Northern Trust Open money list with $1,740,725, just $19,749 behind leader Mike Weir. He also surpasses the $47 million mark in career PGA TOUR Official Money with $47,278,726.

• Mickelson is just the second lefthander to win the Northern Trust Open since the tournament began in 1926. He joins Mike Weir, who won the event in back-to-back seasons (2003, 2004).

• Mickelson now has victories at 19 different PGA TOUR stops in his 17-year PGA TOUR career. The victory is his 11th in the state of California.

• He now has three top-10 finishes for the season. He has 133 career top-10s in 366 career starts and has finished in the top-25 197 times.

• Mickelson has won 17 of 24 times when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead on the PGA TOUR in stroke-play events (19 of 26 overall). He has won 14 of 25 times when holding at least a share of the 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR in stroke-play events (15 of 26 overall).