Mickelson wins Northern Trust Open; Tiger Woods returns this week at Accenture

Phil Mickelson hung on this weekend after seeing a four-shot lead dwindle into a two-shot deficit with three to go at the Northern Trust Open to win the event. Mickelson closed with two consecutive birdies and a par on 18 to clinch the victory …

“I’ll take a lot of this,” he told reporters. “To be able to heart it out on 16 and 17 with two birdies, then to make that par on 18 when two years ago I didn’t, that meant a lot to me.”

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods will make his long awaited return to the PGA Tour at the Accenture Match Play Champioship this week. It will have been more than eight months since Woods hit a shot in professional competition, and no one knows quite what to expect, even Woods …

“I’m as curious as you,” Woods told reporters in a conference call Feb. 20. “The feeling of adrenaline, the rush of competing and playing again, all that I haven’t done in a while.”

In the TravelGolf.com This Week podcast, host Dave Berner talks to author Bob Smiley about his book “Follow the Roar,” which chronicles the writer’s year following Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour.