Garcia is now No. 2 to Tiger but Lefty makes good case

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Sergio Garcia recently passed Phil Mickelson in the Official World Golf Ranking and took over the No. 2 spot.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Phil Mickelson, who has slipped to No. 3 in the world, was asked during a conference call to promote the LG Skins Game whether Sergio Garcia deserved to be No. 2.

Garcia had one victory and three runner-up finishes on the PGA TOUR and two victories and a second place in Europe. Mickelson had two PGA TOUR victories and one runner-up. Garcia tied for second in the PGA Championship, while Mickelson was in the top 20 in all four majors.

"I won't answer that directly," Mickelson said. "But I think that he's played some wonderful golf this year. I haven't played to the level that I want as far as wins. I'll be looking to improve on that."

Mickelson then was asked if a player with no majors deserves to be No. 2, and this was far easier to answer.

"I think for a long time, I had no majors," Mickelson said.

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Haas

GOING LOW: No one has to remind Bill Haas that sometimes going low isn't good enough to win.

Haas finished at No. 104 on the money list with just over $1 million, but he led the PGA TOUR by having six tournaments in which he shot all four rounds in the 60s without winning. If that's not enough, Haas didn't even finish in the top 10 four of those times.

Mark Wilson and rookie Michael Letzig had four tournaments with all four rounds in the 60s without winning. Kevin Streelman, another rookie, had three all-60s tournaments without winning, and he led the TOUR with 51 rounds in the 60s.

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Langer

THE OTHER NOMINEES: Bernhard Langer is bound to win at least one award this year on the Champions Tour.

The two-time Masters champion was the only player to be listed on the ballot as a candidate for player of the year and rookie of the year. Langer won three times and captured the Champions Tour money title with $1.65 million.

Other nominees for player of the year are major champions Jay Haas, Fred Funk, Eduardo Romero, along with Loren Roberts. For rookie of the year, Langer joins John Cook, Jeff Sluman, Mark Wiebe and Gene Jones.

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DIVOTS: The FBR Open in February raised $8,652,542 for local charities in the Phoenix area, an increase of about $800,000 from the previous year and more than any PGA TOUR event has ever donated. ... Ten players on the Nationwide Tour earned at least $300,000 (234,000 euros) this year. ... Patrick Sheehan led the PGA TOUR with 124 rounds played this year and averaged $6,499 per round. Tiger Woods, who played only six events this year, averaged $222,115 per round. ... Jason Gore led the PGA TOUR in total driving but failed to finish in the top 125 on the money list, the sixth time in the last seven years that has happened.

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STAT: Shigeki Maruyama withdrew from five PGA TOUR events, more than any other player.