The New
No. 2
alexis thompson planning to turn pro ( 3)
adams golf: sleek and speedy ( 5)
Jerry west’s Unfulfilled agenda ( 9)
All About
steve
This was the year Phil Mickelson
was going to forward press his way
right past the indefinitely hiatusing
Tiger Woods and into the top spot on
the Official World Golf Ranking.
Oops.
The script writers had laid this one
out. And the final round of the North-
ern Trust Open at photogenic Riviera
was supposed to be “Groovin’ On A
Sunday Afternoon” for Philly Mick.
And then along came ‘Strick.’
Steve Stricker did his own star turn
in Pacific Palisades which, by the way,
is just up the rise from Hollywood. His
two-shot victory over runner-up Luke
Donald was mostly a Pacific coast. No-
body got closer than than two strokes
all day.
And now this same Steve Stricker
has quietly, but efficiently, jumped
past Mickelson and into No. 2 in the
world.

As they used to say in the politi-
cally incorrect and halcyon film days
of Hecht and MacArthur: “Sweetheart,
get me re-write.”
Steve Stricker is the same guy who
won Comeback Player of the Year two
straight seasons. F. Scott Fitzgerald
said there are no second acts in Ameri-
can lives. Sunday, Steve Stricker made
a liar of him. At least twice.