| NOTES | | | Always played on Super Bowl weekend, the Phoenix Open features a gallery that
most resembles one you`d find tailgaiting in an NFL stadium. The par-three
16th always brings out the rowdies. It`s perhaps the most exciting hole in
golf in terms of yelling and screaming and "you da man" chants. Some players
love it. Others hate it and don`t come back. Either way, you`ll see, and
hear, a lot of 16 this week. One player the Thunderbirds, the host of the
Phoenix Open, will be cheering loudly for is Phil Mickelson. The runner-up at
Torrey Pines on Sunday won this championship in 1996 and 2005 and with
collegiate ties to Arizona (he attended Arizona State), the patrons will be
booming for Lefty. Last year it was Hunter Mahan who emerged victorious. He
was four behind at the start of the final round in 2010, but won by a single
stroke over his fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy and future Ryder Cup teammate,
Rickie Fowler. Mahan rolled in a seven-foot eagle putt at the par-five 13th,
then sank an 18-foot birdie putt at 14 to move him ahead of Y.E. Yang. The
hole that clinched it was the famous 16th. Mahan found the edge of the
putting surface and he ran home his 14-footer to reach 16-under par. For
Fowler, who won last year`s PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, it was his second
runner-up finish in his brief career and both were in Arizona. Fowler was a
joint second in the 2009 Frys.com Open. It must be the dry heat, but five
Champions Tour players are in the field this week. Fred Couples, Mark
Calcavecchia, Kenny Perry, Tom Lehman and Fred Funk are set to tee it up this
week. Golf Channel has the broadcast for Thursday and Friday, followed by CBS
on the weekend. Next week is the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the
second pro-am on the tour this year. Dustin Johnson won for the second year
in a row in 2010 and nearly titled again there at the U.S. Open, but lost to
Graeme McDowell.
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