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(2009-02-19 01:04:46)
Phil Mickelson hopes to put aside his early season struggles on a course that has been good to him in the past as he defends his title starting on Thursday at the PGA Northern Trust Open.
Mickelson has missed a cut, shared 42nd and 55th in his three starts so far in 2009, but the US veteran has won 11 times in California and hopes to add this year's 1.1 million-dollar top prize to the total.
Riviera Country Club's par-71 layout will play at 7.298 yards for the 6.3 million-dollar event.
Among Mickelson's top rivals will be Ireland's Padraig Harrington, the reigning British Open and PGA Championship champion who shared third here last year, plus Fiji's Vijay Singh and Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
Southpaw Mickelson led by four strokes after 36 holes last year, carried a one-stroke lead into the last round and won by two to become only the third golfer to have won all four current California events on the US circuit.
World number one Tiger Woods remains out while working on his game following knee surgery last year. Woods, who celebrated the birth of son Charlie Axel earlier this month, is expected to return to the tour next month.
Woods, a 14-time major champion, is chasing the all-time major title record of 18 held by his boyhood idol, Jack Nicklaus. Barring a setback, he will resume that quest in April at the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
