Good News, Bad News
In the face of the Tiger era, Mickelson buckled down, worked hard, and found another gear
COLBY COSH: Phil Mickelson carves five strokes off Lee Westwood’s lead
Scott Feschuk Last week: 5-11 Season: 95-94-3
The best pictures from the last seven days
La première étoile: New York Jets. By acquiring Beautiful Brett Favre for a conditional draft pick the Jets have added a legitimate star pivot to their lineup who should revamp a dismal Jets offence that only produced four wins last year. Even if the team still sucks this upcoming season, management can at least cash in on Favre merchandise sales.
La première étoile: Alexander Ovechkin. The Washington Capitals scoring machine was the toast of the NHL awards ceremony last night, scooping up four shiny trophies, including the Hart (MVP) and the Lester B. Pearson (players’ choice for most outstanding). Only 22 years old, Ovechkin netted 65 goals this season—the first time anyone has reached the 60-goal plateau since Mario Lemieux pocketed that many pucks in 1996. It’s only a matter of time before the Russian phenom shares another trophy with Lemieux: the Stanley Cup.
Last year, Charles McGrath of Play magazine penned the perfect description of Phil Mickelson, golf’s perennial Number 2: “Tiger plays a game we can only marvel at, with that perfect physique and unwavering focus. Phil, flabbier and streakier, plays one we can almost recognize — he’s just like us, only better. And on a tour where the key to winning these days seems more and more to be to turn yourself into a zombie, Mickelson’s occasional failings are welcome proof of humanity. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he’s our idiot.”
La première étoile: Tiger Woods. And Phil Mickelson. The world’s best golfer and the world’s second-best golfer will be paired together in the opening two rounds of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Should make for some great TV—not to mention a traffic jam in the gallery. Prediction: Woods shoots one under par in the opening round, Lefty goes six under, and the folks at CBS tell us that Tiger is just “waiting for the right time to make his move.”