Backspin: Summer of Phil; Tiger's troubles; Mahan's guts

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Get ready for the summer of Phil.

But first I want to back to the end of the 2009 season, when Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods went back-and-forth, sharing one golf headline after another.

Mickelson won THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, while Woods won another FedExCup. Mickelson responded by beating Tiger at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

When the season ended, everyone was left with the feeling that 2010 would finally be the year the two gave the game a rivalry of epic proportion.

It never materialized, of course, with Mickelson fizzling after his Masters win (not exactly a consolation prize) and Woods providing more questions than answers.

But what we're seeing from Mickelson, who has two-top 10s in three starts this year, which includes Sunday's tie for ninth at Pebble Beach, might be the makings of a magical year. He's never won more than four times in a season on the PGA TOUR, and he's never won more than one major in a year, but that could be about to change.

"I feel like I'm right on the cusp of playing some great golf because I feel like I'm driving the ball very well, better than I ever have probably," Mickelson said. "I feel like my iron play is back and my distance control has been sharp. And I feel like I'm rolling the ball very well."

That's not just rhetoric or Phil-speak -- as Butch Harmon pointed out, Mickelson's misses off the tee aren't as wide -- and the way Mickelson is hitting on all cylinders he should be the favorite entering the Masters.

Mickelson has shaved a couple of feet, on average, off his missed fairways, and while that might not sound like much, it is over the course of 72 holes. He's also shaved a stroke off his back-nine scoring average this season, presumably in part because he's been a little more accurate off the tee and in turn more accurate into the greens.

"Even though I didn't get out of today's round what I wanted," Mickelson said. " [I leave] with a lot of confidence and am looking forward to next week's event."

The rest of us should be looking forward to this year.

Stock up

Hunter Mahan: I'll get more into his final rounds in the Back Nine below, but Mahan has obviously put that Ryder Cup loss beyond the rear view mirror. In four starts, he has two top-six finishes, including Sunday's runner-up in which he closed with a 66. Nick Watney: A third-round 75 kept Watney from contending on Sunday, but he continues to play well on the West Coast this year with three-straight finishes in the top six. At a combined 34 under for the year, Watney is second on TOUR in scoring average at 68.46. Phil Mickelson: The player who leads the TOUR in scoring average? Yep, it's Mickelson, who has been only slightly better than Watney at 68.40. Mickelson has two top-10s in three starts, is hitting nearly 75 percent of his greens and is 10th on TOUR in birdie average.

Stock down

Steve Marino: I liked Marino's decision to play for the win rather than trying to protect his position on the leaderboard. What I don't like is that he's gone 122 starts without a win. But that's what happens when you shoot 71-74 on the weekend. Marino has too much talent to not have won by now. Jamie Lovemark: From bad to worse. Lovemark pulled out of Pebble Beach with a back injury after an opening-round 81. It's been a rough start for Lovemark, who finished first on last year's Nationwide Tour money list, with just one made cut in five starts. Billy Horschel: As talented a player as Horschel was at the University of Florida, where he was a four-time All-American, the success hasn't yet translated on TOUR. Horschel was hurt most of last year and so far this year he hasn't made a cut in any of his three starts. That makes him 0-for-7 the last two years.

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Tiger Woods has made a career of proving people wrong whenever he's made significant changes to his swing, but the thing that worries me most about him right now is that he hasn't been great in the final round. Woods has never won a major coming from behind, and his last three final rounds have been 73, 75 and 75. Since his return at last year's Masters, his final-round scoring average is been 71.33.

2. Then there's Hunter Mahan, who it seems like has done nothing but come from behind in the final round. His 66 Sunday at Pebble Beach resulted in a runner-up for his best finish of the year. Last year, both Mahan's wins -- at TPC Scottsdale and Firestone CC -- came courtesy of final rounds of 65 and 64. In 2009, he closed with a 64 to tie for fourth in Hartford and shot 62 on Sunday of the AT&T National to finish second. In 2008, his final-round 65 in Hartford gave him a tie for second. And in 2008, Mahan posted three consecutive final-round 65s at the Travelers Championship, AT&T National and British Open, finishing in the top eight in all three.

3. Pebble Beach president R.J. Harper talked earlier in the week about how he hoped the 14th hole would be remembered for different reasons this year. If you don't remember, that was the hole that produced a three 9s in last year's final round. Well, he got his wish thanks to D.A. Points holing out for eagle from 100 yards in what was obviously the shot of the day.

4. Stat of the Week That May Only Interest Me: For all of D.A. Points' success this year -- a fifth, tie for 18th and Sunday's win at Pebble Beach -- he didn't climb high enough to qualify for the World Golf Champions-Accenture Match Play Championship. Points, who began the year 209th in the Official World Golf Rankings, is now 84th.

5. Here's perhaps the best reason why we won't see a change in rules violation situations immediately, courtesy of Padraig Harrington: "On the face of it, you could sit down over dinner and you come up with a number of ways to change the rules. When a committee actually sits down and examines it, I think they will find it very difficult to find a new rule that covers all angles. The old rule does cover all angles, albeit harshly at times, but it covers every eventuality. I think any new rule brought in, they're going to have to work hard to find one that encompasses every situation you can envisage."

6. Speaking of Harrington, he can relate, at least a little bit, to what Tiger Woods is going through in terms of scrutiny over swing changes. In 2008, Harrington won the PGA Championship then promptly decided to take one step back to take two steps forward, as he's put it. Harrington hasn't won since. "Every player out there working is on their swing," Harrington said. "The difference between me is I was under a spotlight. And the difference with Tiger is he is under that spotlight as well. I'm sure if you go out to that range, there are 156 guys, I can guarantee you would probably go 150-plus that are changing something in their swing. It's just who's going doing it in the spotlight and who is getting the attention for doing it."

7. Odd scorecard of the week: Alvaro Quiros, who had both a 1 and a 7 on the card Sunday in Dubai, where he rallied past Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, among others, for the win.

8. Vijay Singh faded on the weekend at Pebble Beach, but the fact he's been in contention a couple of times is light years ahead of where he was a year or two ago. Singh is finally healthy and the leg, core and rotational work he did in the offseason is paying off. "He's really taking care of his whole body, eating better and really trying to manage it in a very detailed way," said Singh's trainer Gabe Lopez, who admitted that both understand Singh's body much better after more than a year of working together. It also helps that Singh has been healthy. "With all athletes, especially golfers, when there's a problem with a body part it will affect your patters and your confidence," Lopez said. "He's still grinding. He's still very hungry. He's ready for this year."

9. It hasn't exactly been a great start to Joseph Bramlett's rookie season -- he has two missed cuts and a tie for 68th -- but even Tiger Woods needed eight starts to win. Still, Bramlett, the first African American in 25 years to make it to the TOUR via q-school, remains incredibly upbeat. "Where we've been -- Hawaii and San Diego and now I just played Pebble Beach -- I'm basically playing golf in paradise every week," Bramlett told me Saturday night, on his way from the Monterey Peninsula to L.A. Like any rookie, Bramlett has had a lot to adjust to -- towns he's not used to, organizing a lot of things himself, media demands. "In college it's pretty simple," said Bramlett, who, like Woods, played at Stanford. "Out here there are a lot of things to take care of. But it's nothing I didn't expect. The biggest thing I've been told is it's a long year. It's not make-or-break in one week." As for paradise, that journey continues this week at another spectacular track in Riviera Country Club, where Bramlett will get some family time with his sister, who goes to nearby USC.

Forward Spin

You know L.A. is cool when Fred Couples chooses to play at Riviera for the Northern Trust Open rather than play in this week's Champions Tour event. Phil Mickelson will of course be there, too. He's won two of the last three at Riviera with Steve Stricker having ended that streak last year. One player to watch there: Luke Donald, who is making his season debut this week. Donald has finished second, tied for sixth and tied for third each of the last three years at Riviera, which is a classic course that obviously suits Donald's exceptional ball-striking well.

Next Kodak Challenge hole

TOURNAMENT: Northern Trust Open HOLE: The par-4, 315-yard 10th at Riviera Country Club ABOUT THE HOLE: A short hole but by no means easy, longer hitters can drive this green, but extreme accuracy is required. The ideal spot to come into this green is from the left side of the fairway. An extremely narrow green with bunkers right, left and behind gives this hole its character. Kodak Challenge standings