Week 7 Approach Shots: Northern Trust Open

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GOING FOR GOLD: Phil Mickelson makes the first of two title defenses in 2009 when he looks for back-to-back victories at the Northern Trust Open. A year ago, Mickelson took a four-stroke lead through 36 holes, led Jeff Quinney by one stroke going into the final round and won by two strokes. It was Mickelson's first victory at the venerable tournament that began in 1926. Later this year, Mickelson will defend his title at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Quick Facts

WHAT: Seventh of 37 regular-season PGA TOUR events WHEN: Feb. 19-22 WHERE: Pacific Palisades, Calif. COURSE: Riviera Country Club TV: 3 p.m. ET, Thursday-Friday on GOLF CHANNEL; 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday on CBS RADIO: 12 p.m.-8 p.m. ET, Thursday-Sunday PGA TOUR Network (XM 146/SIRIUS 209) WHAT'S AT STAKE: $6,300,000 purse ($1,134,000 for winner) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 500 for winner KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard SHOT TRACKER | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

This season, Mickelson has played three events, including last week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where he tied for 55th. His best finish in 2009 was a tie for 42nd at the Buick Invitational. He also missed the cut at the FBR Open.

Of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, 29 will be at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., this week, led by Padraig Harrington (third), Vijay Singh (fourth), Mickelson (fifth), Geoff Ogilvy (eighth) and Kenny Perry (10th).

Riviera Country Club has hosted this event 46 times, with the first tournament held there in 1929 when Macdonald Smith defeated Tommy Armour.

PLAYER NOTES: Reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year Padraig Harrington has enjoyed two top-10 finishes in two career starts at the Northern Trust Open, including a tie for third last year.

Fred Couples, the 2009 U.S Presidents Cup captain, is in the field this week and will be making his 27th start at the Northern Trust Open. Couples is a two-time champion of the event, winning in 1990 and 1992. His record at the tournament includes 24 made cuts, 18 top-25 finishes and 12 top-10 finishes.

Seventeen-year-old Japanese player Ryo Ishikawa will make his PGA TOUR debut this week. Ishikawa is currently the second-highest ranked Japanese golfer (No. 67) in the Official World Golf Ranking. By the close of 2008, he had become the youngest golfer to break into the top 100 in the rankings. Ishikawa won the Munsingwear Open KSB Cup on the Japan Golf Tour when he was 15 years, 8 months old. He was almost five years younger than Seve Ballesteros, who held the previous Japan Golf Tour record as the youngest winner. Ballesteros was 20 years, 7 months when he won the 1977 Japan Open.

Mike Weir is one of six players to win the Northern Trust Open in back-to-back seasons, joining Macdonald Smith (1928-29), Ben Hogan (1947-48), Paul Harney (1964-65), Arnold Palmer (1966-67) and Corey Pavin (1994-95). Weir won in 2003 and 2004 and also holds the tournament 54-hole record (196) and a share of the 36-hole record (130). He set both records in 2004.

When Mickelson won last year's Northern Trust Open, he became just the third player to win all four of the current California TOUR events. The San Diego native joined Billy Casper and Johnny Miller, also California natives from San Diego and San Francisco, respectively, as the only players to win the Buick Invitational, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Northern Trust Open in their careers.

Mickelson's win at the 2008 Northern Trust Open marked his 11th win in California and his first at Riviera Country Club. Mickelson's victories in the Golden State include three wins each at the Buick Invitational (1993, 2000-01) and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (1998, 2005, 2007), two titles each at the Mercedes-Benz Championship (1994, 1998) and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (2002, 2004) and one victory at the Northern Trust Open (2008).

ON-COURSE OBSERVATIONS: PGA TOUR Network correspondent Fred Albers is on the scene at Riviera CC for this week's satellite radio coverage (XM 146/SIRIUS 209). Reports Albers:

Riviera Country Club is the third great golf course in a row. The PGA TOUR makes three consecutive stops at courses that have hosted U.S. Opens, and that speaks for itself as far as quality of the venue (U.S Open courses are Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera CC).

The rain has followed us from Pebble Beach to Los Angeles, making for damp fairways and softened greens, but the course should firm up as the weather improves.

A player like Mike Weir, who has won here twice and is playing well coming into this event, will be someone to watch this week. But you can't say Riviera favors any one type of player. Weir, one of the shorter hitters on TOUR has won here twice, but then again, so has a bomber like Phil Mickelson (2008, runner up in '07).

Every time I visit Riviera, I take note of the beautiful bunkering around the greens; they give flow to the golf course and are very penal.

Weather forecast for Northern Trust Open

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Sunny Temp: 70 high/48 low Clear skies, no rain Mostly sunny Temp: 70 high/50 low Partly cloudy, no rain Mostly cloudy Temp: 69 high/53 low slight chance of showers Showers Temp: 66 high/53 low 30 percent chance of rain

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Northern Trust Open snippets

Tough competition: Eleven past champions are in the field, including two-time Northern Trust Open winners Fred Couples, Corey Pavin and Mike Weir; Ernie Els (1999 champion) made last-minute plans to enter the field. Breaking barriers: This year's recipient of the new Charlie Sifford exemption is Vincent Johnson, of Portland, Ore. Johnson took up the game at age 6 and set a course record at 14 with a 9-under 62 at his home course, Glendoveer Golf Club. The nickname: In 1948, Ben Hogan won both the U.S. Open and the L.A. Open at Riviera Country Club, causing many to begin calling the Club "Hogan's Alley." Not this trophy: Tiger Woods has made 11 starts at the Nothern Trust Open without a victory. It is the most starts at any tournament without a victory for him. Woods tied for 13th in 2005 and withdrew after two rounds in 2006 because of the flu. Click here for more on Tiger's tournaments out West.

In the spotlight

This week: Phil Mickelson

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM will spotlight one key player in the field. For this week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, it's defending champion Phil Mickelson, who has had a rough start to the season but is likely ready for a rebound. Learn more about Phil

KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Northern Trust Open.

The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 315-yard 10th.

Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.

For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.