2010 Bridgestone Invitational, Round 4: Hunter Mahan Wins, Earns Ryder Cup Spot

Ryan Palmer parred the 17th hole at Firestone Country Club for the first time this week and couldn't put one in from the fairway on the 18th. That made Hunter Mahan's two-shot clubhouse lead unassailable, giving him the victory at the 2010 Bridgestone Invitational. He finished at 12-under 268 for the week.

It's Mahan's third PGA Tour win, and second in 2010. It also vaulted him past Tiger Woods and up to eighth on the Ryder Cup standings, automatically qualifying him for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

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Hunter Mahan needed to rally to get back into contention at the Bridgestone Invitational, and had to scramble to keep his lead late. But he did both, scratching out pars on his last five holes despite getting a bit wild off the tee and with his irons, and the 6-under 64 he fired stakes him to a two-shot clubhouse lead on Ryan Palmer.

After Palmer proved unable to cut into Mahan's lead on the par-5 16th hole, it certainly looks like Mahan will be winning this tournament. Though Palmer has birdied the 17th in each round this week, he has yet to notch a birdie on the 18th.

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With a 25-hole bogeyless streak and--more importantly--a 2-stroke advantage on the line at the Bridgestone Invitational on the line, Hunter Mahan stepped to the tee at the Par-3 15th hole and... promptly plunked the ball in the sand. His bunker shot was unremarkable, and he had a 15-foot putt just to save par.

No sweat for Mahan, however, as he nailed his putt to stay -12 for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Ryan Palmer (who's at the 12th hole). Time seems to be running out for Palmer if he wants to make one last surge--especially if Mahan keeps saving par.

Oh, and to celebrate his sensational save, Mahan promptly planted his second shot on the Par 5 16th hole in a flowerbed. His ball is expected to bloom into a sunflower next spring, at which point Mahan will finish the hole by saving par.

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If he had finished fourth or better at the Bridgestone Invitational, Phil Mickelson would have woken up on Monday as the world's top golfer, swiping the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings from Tiger Woods. Instead, he'll probably go to sleep on Sunday with a headache.

Mickelson is having a horrific day on the course in this fourth round, and is 9-over through his first 15 holes. From the sixth to ninth holes, he went bogey-bogey-bogey-double bogey. He has no birdies on his round, and hasn't put up a red number since a birdie on the 11th hole in Saturday's third round.

It's bad, to be sure, though it's a day of destruction rather than a lost season on par with Woods'. But Mickelson has never been ranked first in the world. If he's going to eventually get to that mountaintop, it won't be by crashing and burning on Sundays.

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With the final group of Ryan Palmer and Sean O'Hair submitting middling performances so far this Sunday, the field was wide open for a golfer to make a move at the top of the leaderboard. Hunter Mahan has done exactly that, and the 28-year-old American now finds himself leading the Bridgestone Invitational.

Mahan submitted birdies on 3, 4, and 5 to work his way to nine under par, and two more birds at 8 and 9 punctuated a sterling 30 on the front nine. Mahan has since cooled somewhat, but has made par on each of the three holes since.

This makes 23 straight holes on which Mahan has avoided bogey, going back to Saturday's round, and his nine birdies in that span have put him on a scorching pace right when it matters the most. With Palmer and O'Hair at +1 and -1 on the day, respectively, Mahan is clearly working from an advantage the rest of the way in.

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It's been a bad year for Tiger Woods both on and off the golf course, but he has never been worse than he was at the Bridgestone Invitational. With nothing to play for on Sunday, Woods flailed again, shooting a 77 in the fourth round to cap a woeful 18-over tournament. Only Henrik Stenson, who opened with a tournament-high 9-over 79, finished further from par than Woods.

Woods' 2010 on the course has been a departure from the skillful, often exquisite golf that has been his hallmark, a coda to his stunning personal fall from grace. His performance at the Bridgestone is just the lowest low: Woods was a full 30 strokes worse than he was in the same tournament last year, his second-to-last PGA Tour win, and the 298 he compiled is the highest 72-hole score of his career.

Now, accolades that have been afterthoughts for Woods may no longer apply. He would have lost his top spot in the World Golf Rankings had Phil Mickelson finished fourth or better, and his selection for the U.S. Ryder Cup team rests in the hands of captain Corey Pavin. He might not even want to be part of it; asked about whether he did on Sunday, Woods replied, "Not playing like this, definitely not, not playing like this."

"It's been a long year," Woods offered after his round. And the worst part, for the guy who has fallen so far, from so high, so fast, is that it's not quite over yet.

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