Genesis Open Power Rankings: Top ten players to ride with at Riviera

Phil Mickelson’s been knocking on the door. Can he finally break through?

Two straight top-fives appear to have Mickelson reinvigorated. He began the day too far off the pace, but a five-under 67 to surge to T2 at Pebble Beach was one of the best rounds on Sunday.

Mickelson was also in the mix the week before in Phoenix where he finished T5.

Phil will often put forth a confident facade, but he has legitimate reasons to be bullish on his game. He had this to say in his Sunday press conference at Pebble:

"“I don’t think it’s going to take much different than the way I played the last couple of weeks and Riviera is a golf course that I played very well in the past, I like a lot, I know a lot of the nuances in it. If I drive it the way I’ve been driving it, strike it the way I’ve been striking it, it’s a perfect course for those that are striking it well. And right now I’m hitting it as well as I have in a long time.”"

Mickelson tore off a streak of second, first and first at the Genesis Open from 2007-09. Lefty also claims a T2 in 2012 and finished T34 in his last start in 2017. He’s made his last eight cuts here and 12 of 15 overall.

It’s easy to pick on Mickelson for fading late in tournaments, but he’s actually 22nd in fourth-round scoring this season. It’s the third round where he’s 141st at 71.47, nearly two strokes higher than any other round’s average.

If Phil can get into one of the final pairings Sunday, I like his chances.