SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Phil Mickelson and I were scheduled to play the same golf course Wednesday - albiet at different times. We were both set up on the renovated Tom Fazio at the new Grand Del Mar Resort about 25 minutes from downtown San Diego.

I showed and Phil canceled after the news that Tiger Woods was out for the season came out. Hopefully Mickelson didn’t cancel because he thought some WorldGolf.com pain would have been pestering him for Tiger comments. (None of the powers that be let me in on the fact that you planned to be there, Phil, it came down to good old fashioned reporting.)

Of course, Mickelson’s decision to suddenly lay low post Tiger’s-out shockwaves brought all kinds of interesting theories out.

“Mickelson decided to step up his practice schedule because he realizes there’s a chance he can be the No. 1 player in the world by the end of the year,” the common refrain went.

Who knows if that really had anything to do with it? Maybe, Mickelson found a corporate obligation to do or was just too worn out after an emotionally draining U.S. Open.

In a somewhat cruel twist, Mickelson’s 38th birthday fell on the exact same day that Tiger Woods won his 14th major in a playoff. Mickelson still celebrated his b-day with the family in the San Diego area Monday, though. No matter Mickelson’s reason for bowing out of his Del Mar round Wednesday, this Tiger tumultuous day clearly sets the stage for Phil’s best chance to add to those three majors already on his resume.

Who stands between Mickelson and a British Open or a PGA Championship now? (And he has to win at least one of them now). The Greg Norman-esque closer Sergio Garcia? The exposed as a major fraud Rory Sabbatini? The brain-dead, hot-head Adam Scott?

None of these guys even belong in Phil’s same ballpark, dumb no-driver decision at the U.S. Open regardless. Phil needs to seize the moment, probably his last, best moment.

Maybe, he did really ratchet up his practice schedule in a fit of Tiger’s-out inspiration.

For more on the Grand Del Mar, which has to be one of the top 50 golf resorts in the world already with all its extras, stay tuned to TravelGolf.com for full stories. To find out why Mickelson’s already done more as a course designer to help grow the game of golf than Tiger Woods has or probably ever will, check out the next On the Spot column on the front of TravelGolf.com in a few weeks.

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