The Sports Monitor

Phil Mickelson rules the British Open. I never thought I'd type those six words. But after a sizzling final-round 66 Sunday, Mickelson won the major he never thought possible. For a Phil fan like me, it was amazing. The birdie on the 18th hole left a smile on my face. And I couldn't stop talking about the charge he made. And the national media couldn't either. I did get a little annoyed when I heard a host on the radio last say night that Mickelson looked like Tiger winning the British Open. Ah ... no. Absolutely not. Phil did something Tiger never did: win a major coming from behind on Sunday. It was a memorable day. Lefty had one of greatest closing rounds in major history. Couldn't ask for a better finish, especially after the U.S. Open last month.

Tiger Woods always is the story, isn't he? He was in control of the Masters Friday when things went awry. By now you heard what happened, and have heard all sorts of opinions whether he should have been penalized or not, and whether he should have been disqualified. My point today is if Tiger is the dominant golfer everyone wants him to be, he still would have won the Masters. If he had regained whatever it is he lost, he would have won. He would have used all the detractors as fuel to win. And maybe he tried. He's just not the same golfer. The chase for Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors continues, but Woods remains four back. I'm not sure he gets there.

Tiger Woods won another tournament. He has a new girlfriend. He's back at No. 1 in the world after Monday's win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Wake me when he wins a major. That's when he's back to being Tiger.

Any minute now, Tiger Woods will wrap up the Farmers Insurance Open. Even before he sinks that final putt, we've heard that he's back. As much fun as it was to rip him when he was going though his public divorce, the media now wants to build him back up. Sorry, folks, I'm still skeptical that he's all the way back. This is just one tournament. It's on his favorite course. It's January. Heap all the praise you want on Woods. In my book, he's not back until he wins a major. That may or may not happen again. He's lost the air of invincibility. In sports, that's difficult to get back. The players will truly be the judge on Tiger's status. And, it won't be by what they say in the press. If the pros start to quiver in a major when Tiger's making his climb up the leaderboard, then I'll start to be convinced. Until then, I won't bestow the comeback label on him.

Can you call Tiger Woods' performance in the U.S. Open as a disappointment? Not if you're like me and you didn't think he would win. Most people though Woods was back entering the tournament. After the first two rounds, many still believed, thinking this could be his big return. I didn't. I held firm after 36 holes of the tournament at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. After seeing Tiger struggle at the Masters, I knew something wasn't right with his game. I didn't think his game could hold up over four days against the best in the world. Yeah, he can win a normal PGA Tour event against a weak field. That doesn't mean he's back. Saturday and Sunday confirmed it. Maybe next time Tiger's game will be up for it. Only time will tell, but he's slowly running out of it.