Mickelson lays down a most ominous marker

GOLF/US Tour: Can a leopard change its spots? It would seem so, in the case of Phil Mickelson at least. As far as a statement of intent for the season goes, the 34-year-old world number four has certainly put down an early marker after his win in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am gave him the first back-to-back wins of his career, coming as it did a week after his success in the Phoenix Open.

But it was the absence of any wildness off the tee and any traditional golfing faux pas that was most impressive.

Mickelson became the first wire-to-wire winner in the 68-year history of the tournament, finishing with a 73 for 19-under-par 269 that left him four clear of Mike Weir.

Yet, for the Irish in the field there were also encouraging signs. Darren Clarke, in his first outing on the US Tour this season, finished tied-sixth to net $184,175, putting him 42nd on the money list.

And for Graeme McDowell, a first top-10 finish on the US Tour had moved him up the world rankings. The 25-year-old from Portrush finished eighth at Pebble Beach, which was worth $164,300 and installed him as first in the non-members' earnings on the US Tour.

And more significantly than the money, perhaps, it enabled him to move to 54th in the world rankings.

McDowell has targeted a top-50 in the rankings by the end of March as his primary goal for the early season, as it would get him into the US Masters.

A graduate of the University of Alabama, during which time he was the top-ranked collegiate player in America, McDowell has secured a place in this week's Nissan Open in Los Angeles and, then, next week also makes his debut in the WGC-Accenture Matchplay at La Costa.

Clarke, a former winner of the matchplay, follows a similar schedule.

Mickelson, though, is the player who has jumped out of the blocks this season. His win in Pebble Beach was the 25th of his career and moved his season's earnings to over the $2 million mark already, moving him to first in the money list, some $800,000 ahead of Vijay Singh. The last time Mickelson led the money list was last July.

"It was weird," remarked Mickelson after his latest triumph, which saw him start the final round seven shots clear of Weir and lead by nine at one stage before eventually finishing four clear. "I didn't feel the normal intensity, the normal stress. It was a very enjoyable round," added Mickelson.

The only thing he didn't do was set the tournament scoring record. Mickelson finished on 19-under 269, missing by one shot the 72-hole record set seven years ago by Mark O'Meara.

Mickelson won in consecutive weeks for the first time in his career. Even more alarming is the margin of victory, especially for a player known for keeping it entertaining to the very end. He has won the last two weeks by a combined nine shots. Going into this year, Mickelson had won his last eight US Tour titles by a combined nine shots.

"It's been fun," Mickelson said. "I've been playing well the last couple of weeks. I'm excited to get the year started with a couple of wins."

He will take this week off, then head to La Costa.

Tiger Woods, however, will be in the field, along with Clarke and McDowell, in Los Angeles. The world's number two has stayed away from competitive play since winning the Buick Invitational last month, but he returns for back-to-back outings that will see him attempt to dethrone Weir this week (the left-hander is chasing a "three-peat") and then defend his title at La Costa.

Padraig Harrington's fondness for an extended winter break has seen him drop from sixth to eighth in the world rankings, but the Dubliner finally resumes tournament play in his week's Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, where he will be joined by Paul McGinley, who finished 30th in Pebble Beach on his competitive return after surgery.

McGinley is 76th in the world and would require a big week if he is to make the field for the matchplay, which is confined to the top 64 available players off the world rankings.

Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie and Gary Murphy are also playing in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Michael Hoey's fifth-place finish in the Costa Rican Open has moved the Belfastman up to second on the European Challenge Tour order of merit. Hoey will attempt to consolidate that position in this week's Panama Masters, where Colm Moriarty and Tim Rice are also starters.