When Phil Mickelson started the final round at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he seemed like a long shot to win the event. By the time he finished the front nine, he seemed like a lock. 

Mickelson was nine under, six shots behind leader Charlie Wi, after 54 holes, but he charged out of the gate with birdies on three of the first five holes and an eagle on the par-5 sixth. As Mickelson climbed the leaderboard with a 31 on the front to get to 14 under, his competitors fell all around him.

Wi four-putted the first hole for a double bogey and was 12 under after going out in 39. Tiger Woods, paired with Mickelson in the second-to-last group, bogeyed the last three holes on the front nine to fall to nine under. Duke also fell back with a front-nine 37.

Mickelson never let up, shooting a bogey-free 64 to finish 17 under, two shots clear of Wi. It was Mickelson's 40th PGA Tour victory and his fourth win at this event.

Woods, whose game has showed improvement in recent months, was again unable to finish a tournament with a victory. His three-over 75 left him at eight under, tied for 15th.

When asked about playing with Woods, Mickelson said it helped.

"I am inpsired playing with him, and I think most people are," Mickelson said. "He seems to bring out the best in me."

When asked about Woods's game, he was complimentary.

"He was hitting it so solid, you could tell his game was really close," Mickelson said.

More on Mickelson's win | Round 4 photos

(Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. - Erik Compton thought he'd be more emotional. He thought memories of the two heart transplants and the recovery that followed would consume him the moment he earned his PGA Tour card.

But when Compton won last weekend's Mexico Open - which vaulted him to No. 2 on the Nationwide Tour's money list and all but assured him a PGA Tour membership next season - he didn't cry. Instead, excitement was the prevailing emotion as Compton jetted from Mexico to Philadelphia on Monday for this weekend's AT&T National, where he is playing with a sponsor's exemption.

When asked Wednesday about the emotions of his last couple of days, Compton said, "I don't even know where to begin."

Compton, a former All-American at Georgia, had an enlarging of the heart called cardiomyopathy that led to a transplant in 1992, when he was 12. He needed another transplant in 2008 when that heart failed.

Compton was admittedly fatigued heading into Thursday's first round;  the AT&T National marks his fifth tournament in as many weeks.

Wearing a violet shirt and showing off his wide, toothy smile, Compton didn't seem the least bit worried about fatigue affecting his play. This will be his fifth PGA Tour event of the season and his 17th since having his second heart transplant in 2008. His best finish came at the Northern Trust Open in February, where he tied for 25th.

"Once I get on the tee, I think I'll be ready to play and excited," Compton said. "I'm just trying to take it real slow."

As his PGA Tour career starts to take shape, Compton will remain realistic with his goals. His heart will continue to limit his energy level and playing schedule.

He only hits balls for 20-25 minutes before a round, and his off-weeks aren't spent practicing, either. Sometimes, he doesn't even take his clubs out of the suitcase at home. He relaxes, goes fishing, and spends time with his wife, Barbara, and baby, Petra.

After leaving Philadelphia, Compton will have his annual cardiac check-up and take some much-needed time off.

Compton is cognizant of the fact that he'll always be known as the guy who is on his third heart. As he says, "It's such a crazy, crazy story." But after last week's victory, he has a new title that's nearly as meaningful: card-carrying member of the PGA Tour.

"The doctors are shocked and people in the transplant world are shocked," Compton said. "I'm shocked because I always said I would be on Tour and play, but now it's a reality. My dream is finally coming true, and it couldn't have happened at a better time."

(Photo: Adam Davis/Icon SMI)

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- Patrick Cantlay's month of June has included placing second in the NCAA individual national championship, accepting the Jack Nicklaus award as national player of the year, being low amateur at the U.S. Open and leading the Travelers Championship after a second-round 60  -- the lowest score by an amateur in PGA Tour history.

And now, Cantlay, a UCLA sophomore-to-be, is finally starting to get noticed. On Monday at the AT&T National, a fan asked him to autograph a photo, a first for the baby-faced 19-year-old.

"That was a little shocking," Cantlay said in his press conference Tuesday morning.

But his new-found notoriety and his rising reputation in the sport won't make Cantlay change his tune about his future. The Los Alamitos, Calif., native has maintained that he plans to return to UCLA for the fall semester, even after missing out on nearly $150,000 in prize money because of his amateur status.

School doesn't start until Sept. 22, which leaves Cantlay plenty of time to continue his whirlwind summer vacation. He hasn't been home since the NCAA national championship began in late May. Next week he'll play in the Southern California Amateur. From there, Cantlay's schedule includes the Western Amateur outside Chicago, the U.S. Amateur outside Milwaukee  and "hopefully," Cantlay says, the Walker Cup -- amateur golf's version of the Ryder Cup -- in Scotland.

With the way Cantlay has been playing lately, it's hard to imagine any scenario where he'd be passed over for the U.S. Walker Cup team.

"I'm not surprised with the way I [have] played, but it just reaffirmed my belief that I think I can play out here eventually," he said.

(Photo: Barbara Johnston/AP)

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Lucky Shot

Really cool story out of Philly this weekend, where Sean O'Hair met Chris Logan, a local man who might be O'Hair's biggest fan after the PGA Tour pro beaned him at the AT&T National last year. According to Joe Juliano at Philly.com, it was the shot of O'Hair's (and Logan's) life.

But he had his day cut short when a tee shot from Sean O'Hair, one of his favorite players, struck him in the left temple at the 18th hole.

As emergency medical technicians hustled him to a nearby tent to be examined, Logan had no idea this would be the luckiest day of his life.

While checking him out for a concussion, a doctor inquired about a lump just below his throat and urged him to visit his family doctor to get it checked out. The lump turned out to be a malignant tumor on his thyroid. He underwent two surgeries less than six weeks after being struck by the ball...

There were a lot of "what-ifs." What if Logan had not decided to go to the tournament? What if he had continued to follow the leaders on the back nine instead of going back to watch O'Hair play his final hole? What if he, a former caddie at Overbrook Golf Club, had done a better job of following the flight of the ball and gotten out of the way?

"I don't want to say I haven't thought about it, but..." said Logan, his voice starting to crack. "I guess fate would be the word I would use. I'm not sure how much more in depth I can go. But if there wasn't fate working that day, I'd be lying to myself. We could have stayed home. I could have stayed up around the [18th] green and just watched Sean putt."

If you've got some time, read the whole story, it's one of those great combinations of sad, funny, shocking and heartwarming, especially because O'Hair and Logan are actually from the same PA town.

New York State of Mind?

After a few years bumming around some of the nicest private courses in New Jersey, it sounds as if the Barclays is ready to make it's triumphant return to the Empire State. Brendan Prunty of the Star-Ledger looks into the rumored new location for the first leg of the FedEx Cup, two-time U.S. Open venue, Bethpage Black.

Traditionally held at Westchester Country Club, the PGA Tour and the club parted ways after the inaugural FedEx Cup Playoffs — of which The Barclays is the first event...

When the tour split with Westchester in the winter of 2007, part of the agreement was that the PGA Tour would return once to the club before 2012. But while it was assumed that would be The Barclays, that turned out not to be the case. Early last winter, it was announced that Westchester would host the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship — one of the majors for the Champions Tour, formerly the Senior PGA Tour.

That opened the door for Bethpage Black to swoop in a pick up two future dates in The Barclays rotation [in 2012 and 2016].

Rumored to have been on the outs with the USGA after hosting two U.S. Opens in a seven-year span, the brawny public golf course in Farmingdale had been searching for a big-time replacement event.

On one hand, I hate to see a tournament leave the great state of New Jersey (even though it will be back at Liberty National in 2013), but it's nice to see Bethpage getting some love from the PGA Tour. I'm still holding out hope that the Open will someday return to Bethpage Black so that it can redeem itself with a seamless (read: dry) major, but in the meantime, a FedEx Cup event is nothing to sneeze at for the world's best muni.

YouTube Video of the Day

Inspired by the PGA Tour's Golf Boys, a group of Ladies European Tour players have put together a tribute music video of their own. I'll let the footage speak for itself, but it should go without saying that the Golf Boys showed considerably more skin than their female counterparts.

Tiger Woods said via Twitter that he will not play in the AT&T National tournament, which begins June 30 in suburban Philadelphia, but he will attend the event as the tournament host.

Woods, who has not played competitively since he withdrew from the Players Championship in May, said he is still recovering from an injury to his left knee and Achilles tendon that he suffered at the Masters.

Woods tweeted on Wednesday: "Doctor’s orders: sitting out the #attnational. I'll be in Philly to support the event. Feeling stronger every day, but not 100%."

The AT&T National will be held at Aronimink Country Club outside Philadelphia next week. Woods won the tournament in 2009, but finished T46 last year.

If Woods maintains his usual schedule of events, his next tournament will be the British Open, starting July 14 at Royal St. Georges in England, health permitting, of course.

More Tiger Woods: Life in Pictures | SI Covers | Chronology of Injuries

(Photo: Robert Beck/SI)

Golf Magazine's Steve Beslow live blogged the second round of the AT&T National.

Leaderboard | Course Profile | TV Schedule | 2010 Schedule and Result

6:00 Okay boys and girls, that's going to do it for me tonight. Thanks for all the great questions and comments. Have a great 4th of July, I'll see you back here for the Open Championship at sunny St. Andrews in a couple weeks.

5:58 It may not be the sexiest leadboard in history, but with as tough as this course is playing, it will surly be an exciting weekend. And hey, at least Tiger made the cut this time.

Golf Magazine's Mike Walker live blogged the first round of the AT&T National.

Leaderboard | Course Profile | TV Schedule | 2010 Schedule and Results

5:59 p.m. Golf Channel's Terry Gannon concludes: "I think the golf course won today." I think I like it better when the players win. That's it for the Live Blog today. Thanks to Stephanie Wei of WeiUnderPar.com and everyone who read and left comments. Golf Mag's Steve Beslow will be here tomorrow.

5:54 p.m. Then again, after watching players struggle at Aronimink today, I'm sure a lot of guys are happy they stayed home.

5:53 p.m. I know the date makes it bad for the European players and a lot of American players want to spend the holiday with their families, but this event is missing a lot of star players. If it wasn't for Woods, you'd think you were at Turning Stone.

5:48 p.m. I loved him in Barbershop but is Golf Channel's Golf in America host Anthony Anderson even a celebrity at this point.

It's going to take more than a few sex scandals to knock Tiger Woods from his perch as the world's highest-paid athlete, according to Forbes.

Woods ranks fifth in the magazine's Celebrity 100, a list of the world's most powerful entertainers and athletes. Oprah Winfrey holds the top spot on the list. After Woods, the highest-ranking athlete is Kobe Bryant, at No. 14. Forbes estimates Woods' take-home pay at $105 million.

Tiger Woods' fall from global sports icon to tabloid fodder was stunning. He saw Accenture, AT&T and Pepsi drop him as a pitchman, but he remains the highest-paid athlete in the world thanks to huge deals with Nike, Electronic Arts and Upper Deck.

Phil Mickelson, the world's No. 2 golfer, is ranked 45th, with his take-home pay estimated at $46 million.

O'Hair has homefield advantage at AT&T National
The easiest way to start a conversation with Philly-area resident Sean O'Hair is to ask him how the Eagles or Phillies look this season, so it's no surprise he's looking forward to playing at Aronimink in suburban Philadelphia at this week's AT&T National. Joe Juliano of The Philadelphia Inquirer talks to O'Hair about playing a tournament at a club where's he's a member.

[O'Hair] said he loves Aronimink for its practice facilities but has not played the course very much because he'd rather take a cart during a casual round, and Aronimink requires walking.

"I don't think I have a huge advantage," he said. "I know the course a little bit as far as the layout. I know what clubs I'm going to hit off the tees. But as far as greens, which is what that course is all about, I don't know the greens like the back of my hand or anything like that."

Still, O'Hair is probably worth a fantasy start this week.

Stray Shots
Some things we noticed while tapping our feet to the new Wales Ryder Cup song...

Paul Azinger was a guest on Sean Hannity's show. No, the Republican Zinger's not running for office, just selling his book. (Via FoxNews)

Cristie Kerr doesn't think we have enough wines from pro golfers yet. (Via The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Before you start awarding the Ryder Cup to Europe this year, think about Justin Rose's meltdown at the Travelers. (Via Bunker Mentality)

Lordy, lordy, Jim Furyk's 40. (Via The Philadelphia Inquirer)

So far, so good for PGA Championship ticket sales. (Via The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Vijay Singh has been spotted at this week's AT&T National without the logos of Stanford Financial, according to CNBC's Darren Rovell.

Singh had been wearing the logos on his shirt and visor as recently as last week at the Travelers Championship despite the accusations that Allen Stanford ran an $8 billion ponzi scheme. Stanford has pleaded not guilty to a 21-count indictment.

Last week, Singh made headlines when he offered to help pay Stanford's bond, but federal rules would not allow it since Singh is not a U.S. citizen.