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Long overdue Mickelson ends Tiger's streak, title drought
Posted: Monday February 14, 2000 11:06 PM
LA JOLLA, Calif. (CNNSI.com) -- Golf's longest winning streak in 52 years is history. Left-hander Phil Mickelson topped the world's hottest player, Tiger Woods, by four shots Sunday to claim the Buick Open in La Jolla, California. For Mickleson, who also won the Buick Open in 1993, this was his first tour victory since the 1998 Mercedes Championships. CNNSI.com's Tom Rinaldi spoke with the new champion about winning the 14th title of his career. Tom Rinaldi: Phil, how important was it to get this victory after not winning since 1998? Phil Mickelson: Well, it's very important for me for a couple of reasons. Obviously I have not won for a while. But more importantly, I've really spent a lot of time in the off-season analyzing my game, working on my game and trying to really improve it. And it's important for me to see some results. And so, with the loss that I had in Phoenix, to come back here and play against the best player in the world and end up winning head to head, that gives me a lot of confidence. Rinaldi: After Tiger pulled even at [No.] 13, you settled right down. What was the turnaround for you? Mickelson: I just need to get aggressive. I needed to go out and get birdies because I knew that Tiger was going to. I needed to get back in the frame of mind that allowed me to get in the lead in the first place, which was making birdies. So I started to attack some things and be a little more aggressive with the putter. Rinaldi: You stared down Tiger at La Costa a couple of years ago. Did that help in this final round? Mickelson: I don't think it matters either way. I never really thought about it, so I don't think it had an effect either way. Rinaldi: You said you didn't want to be the bad guy that broke the streak as much as you wanted to win. Did it mean more to win because it ended that streak? Mickelson: Not really. I think for me, as I said earlier, it was important for me to get a win under my belt because I hadn't won in a while. And also to see some results from what I have been doing, practice-wise and so forth. The fact that it happened to end his streak, it doesn't matter to me. Certainly it would have been nice if his streak had kept going because it created a lot of interest in the game of golf and has done a lot of good for the game of golf. I'm not trying to be the bad guy, I just wanted to win the golf tournament. This tournament means a lot to me and I'm very fortunate to have won.
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