Phil Mickelson

TROON, Scotland -- He had been overshadowed by Phil Mickelson while in college and overrun by the emergence of Tiger Woods as a pro. Justin Leonard's profile was much like his game.Respected but not quite feared.Solid but not quite a superstar.It all changed Sunday afternoon when the 25-year-old Texan won the 126th British Open at Royal Troon.Not that Leonard ever saw it that way."I did play against Phil for two years. However, I didn't play against Tiger," Leonard said shortly after his final round of 6-under-par 65 and four-round score of 12-under 272 had given him a three-shot victory.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It looks like a major, but The Players Championship has always been treated as a lesser light in the golf galaxy.The tournament is in only its 24th year, but it's a lot closer in feel to the Masters or U.S. Open than it is to the Fats Domino Desert Classic. It will never be granted Grand Slam status, but now the tournament has a place in history, as this week it becomes the first event ever to have the world's top 50 players participating."I think, by far, this is the strongest tournament we play in all year," Greg Norman said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A freshening wind blew across Valhalla Golf Club yesterday, brightening the PGA Championship considerably, sweeping a couple of golf's shining new faces to ++ the top of the leader board and setting up a wild weekend in the season's final major.Phil Mickelson, 26, opened a commanding lead in his effort to win his first major championship. His second straight round of 67 put him at 10-under par and three strokes ahead of 24-year-old Justin Leonard. Leonard's 66 was a course record, and his 7-under total of 137 brought him well within range of his second career victory in two weeks.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Phil Mickelson continued his progression at the Masters yesterday.The 25-year-old left-hander from Arizona began the final round in third place, and that's where he ended, with his second straight 72. Mickelson finished 6-under, six strokes behind Nick Faldo and one behind Greg Norman. He tied for 46th as a Masters rookie in 1991, tied for 34th in 1993 and tied for seventh last year."When I had opportunities to get it going, it just stalled the last three days," said Mickelson, who opened the tournament with a 65.What did Mickelson think of Norman's final-round collapse to a final round 78?

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Is this a golf tournament or a coronation?The majority of the players will have to get up off their knees for the final round of the Masters. Some fell to Augusta National Golf Club yesterday, but all paid homage to Greg Norman, who again added two strokes to his lead and showed signs that there will be no major fold from him this time."I'm just going out there as if nobody's got a lead," Norman said of today's final round, in which he will attempt to win his first major championship in the United States, let alone his first Masters.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Haven't we been here before?Wasn't it nine years ago when the U.S. Open leader board at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club seemed to include a cast of thousands? Or was it yesterday?Wasn't it nine years ago when an unruly fan heckled third-round leader Greg Norman, or was this a case of deja rude all over again?But there was a difference at the 95th Open. This time, Norman lost all but a share of the lead but kept his composure on a wild and windy afternoon on Long Island."There's more to golf than just hitting a ball," Norman said after an adventurous 4-over-par 74 left him tied with Tom Lehman at 1-under 209. "There's chipping and putting and having heart.

When: Thursday through Sunday; pro-am WednesdayWhere: Tournament Players Club at Avenel, PotomacPurse: $1.3 million, first prize of $234,000Who: 156 golfers, including defending champion Grant Waite, reigning U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, 1992 U.S. Open winner and former Kemper champion Tom Kite, 1991 U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart and two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange as well as former PGA champion John Daly, Phil Mickelson and Fred Funk.Tickets:...

Reading Time: Two Minutes.While it's true this week's Kemper Open at Avenel in Potomac has had a "Who's He" instead of a "Who's Who" list of winners of late -- Grant Waite, Morris Hatalsky, Billy Andrade -- that figures to change momentarily with the tourney hosting its best field in a decade: Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, John Daly, Lee Janzen, Lanny Wadkins, Phil Mickelson (back from a broken leg), Curtis Strange, et al.* Actually, it's no big deal that the New York Rangers, who start the Stanley Cup final against the Vancouver Canucks tonight, haven't claimed the beloved cup over the last 54 seasons.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. - When Ted Oh, child prodigy of golf, returns to Torrance (Calif.) High School, he'll have first-person stories to tell about how it feels to be a tender 16 and play in the U.S. Open as the second youngest contestant in the near century-old history of a tradition-rich and storied classic.Awaiting Oh is a final examination in a Spanish course that will help determine if he's promoted from the sophomore class to his junior year. "I do better in golf," he explained.Oh, looking more the part of a Boy Scout than a U.S. Open entrant, yesterday shot 76 and impressed the gathering of 30,000 spectators with the way he conducted himself, displaying a maturity far beyond his youthful years but underneath he is a kid at heart.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Phil Mickelson has already signed a lucrative contract with a club manufacturer, reportedly worth as much as $5 million. He has a high-profile agent, an entourage and a PGA Tour victory to his credit.Not bad for someone who turned 22 Monday and will make his professional debut today. It seems only fitting that Mickelson, a player who made history at Arizona State, will play his first pro tournament here at the U.S. Open."I couldn't think of a better place to make my pro debut than the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach," Mickelson said during a news conference yesterday.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods stole the show for most of Sunday. But they exited stage right before the green jacket ceremony. Mickelson birdied six of the first eight holes, becoming just the fourth player in Masters history to record a front-nine 30. The others: Johnny Miller in the third round in 1975, Greg Norman in the fourth round in 1988 and K.J. Choi in the second round in 2004. "The front nine was awesome," Mickelson said. "It was really fun, and it gave me a chance on the back.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -On the eve of the 2007 Masters, Zach Johnson walked off the 18th green with one prevailing thought: "I haven't got a prayer." "It was playing so hard," Johnson recalled of that practice round. "It was so cold and windy. My preparation was good, but I just didn't feel like I had an opportunity to play well because it was so long." Trevor Immelman had a similar woe-is-my-game mind-set one year ago. He entered the tournament ranked 129th and less than four months removed from surgery to remove a benign, Titleist-size lesion on his diaphragm.

Tee It Up With Tiger 7 p.m. [Golf Channel] Tiger Woods (right) offers golf lessons (two more half-hour episodes follow). Lesson No. 1: You don't say anything bad about other golfers, even if you're talking about Phil Mickelson.

Garcia takes 3-shot lead at Tour Championship golf Sergio Garcia enjoyed an amazing turnaround yesterday against Anthony Kim at the PGA Tour Championship, and it had nothing to do with the Ryder Cup. Garcia shot a 3-under-par 67 to go from a three-shot deficit on the front nine to a three-shot lead through 54 holes in Atlanta, leaving him poised to become only the third player to capture The Players Championship and the Tour Championship in the same...

So maybe instant karma isn't gonna get you. The Food Court Lunch blog proposes the idea that "what goes around, comes around" doesn't seem to apply when it comes to sports and lists several examples of "karmic anomalies." Here are some of them: * Phil Mickelson: "Three majors wins. Thirty-four PGA Tour wins. Perhaps the greatest left-handed golfer ever. And, by all accounts, a monumental [a word here that can appear in b, but not here]. So annoying, in fact, that he makes Vijay Singh seem palatable."

Know that when I say this, I say it with love: It's time to bring your A-game and help the United States win the Ryder Cup. Enough excuses. You're the second-most talented player of your generation. This week, it's time to play like it. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/lifeofkings)

If this Ryder Cup were decided merely on obvious talent and recent accomplishment, we wouldn't have to play the tournament. We would just hand the gold cup topped with the little golfer over to the Europeans and let it go at that. And you know, that would still be true even if the recuperating Tiger Woods were teeing it up for the United States, because his presence has not made up for what has basically deviled the Americans in the past three Ryder Cups (all European wins): a lack of depth.

There's a lot of justifiable hand-wringing going on among those associated with golf that without Tiger Woods, the profile index of the PGA Tour will slip to something approximating that of pro bowling or curling. As a result, there's talk among golf commentators about how the PGA needs to begin promoting other players so that there won't be such a huge drop in interest - especially in TV ratings - when Woods isn't playing. (A much-quoted Los Angeles Times article indicated that when Tiger played and was in contention, the ratings on CBS and NBC golf telecasts were up an average of 111 percent.

OFF THE TEE -- Kevin Van Valkenburg argues that it's more fun to cheer for imperfection -- and that's why Phil Mickelson, not Tiger Woods, is the guy to watch in the Masters. baltimoresun.com/thelifeofkings More students are applying to more colleges, such as an Annapolis High School student who sought entry to 10 and was accepted at nine.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- He owns 31 PGA Tour tournament championships and ranks second in the world. His credentials include three major titles, including two of the past four Masters. His performance chart this year shows a victory in Los Angeles and a near-miss in Phoenix. Yet, Phil Mickelson - like all the others - comes to the 72nd Masters reduced to almost an afterthought. The Masters Today through Sunday, Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club Today's TV: ESPN, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., 8 p.m.-11 p.m.