FanHouse Phil Mickelson

Golf keeps wanting to see a final-round tough-guy battle between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson for a tournament title. It gets one and it's halfway around the world.

At the World Golf Championship - HSBC in Shanghai, China, Mickelson holds a two shot lead over Woods and fellow American Nick Watney going into Sunday's final round.

Mickelson shot 67 Saturday to go 14-under while both Woods and Watney posted 70s to stand 12 under.

Tiger Woods plays golf all over the world, all the time, and tends not to discriminate when trophies come his way in different languages. Unfortunately, none of those trophies Woods holds are covered in Mandarin, but that could change if Tiger keeps it up at the HSBC Champions.

After two rounds in Shanghai, Tiger can't stop shooting 67s, and with a birdie on his final hole on Friday, Woods is tied for the lead at 10-under with first-round leader and fellow countryman Nick Watney.

Watney, ranked 32nd in the world, followed up his course record 64 on Thursday with a 2-under 70 to tie Woods and will be paired with Tiger on Saturday with a list of impressive golfers chasing, including 2007 HSBC champion Phil Mickelson, who is 9-under, just one shot back.

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If you didn't know any better when checking the leaderboard of the HSBC Champions, you'd think it was just another PGA Tour event. Unfortunately, it's not, but with all the American flags hibernating near the top, five of the top-12 to be exact, you'd think this tournament was being held in the States, not in Shanghai, China.

Nick Watney, an American, set the course record at Sheshan International Golf Club on Thursday with a 8-under 64, but near his heels are a few well known names, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, playing in this event together for the first time.

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If you can look past, for a moment, the fact that both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are multi-millionaires, playing the same game and hording appearance fees most of us won't accumulate in our lifetime, the two are practically polar opposites.

Tiger was a Stanford Cardinal to Phil's Arizona State Sun Devil. Tiger's right-handed to Phil's southpaw. Tiger's black to Phi's white. Tiger is known as a closer to Phil's (sometimes misconceived) choker.

The thing we can all agree on with Tiger and Phil is what they've done for the game of golf, none more apparent than their appearance together this week at the HSBC Champions, in Shanghai, China, a event that kicked off in 2005 and is now drawing the type of talent reserved for major championships and events hosted by past legends.

Every sports fan has a little bit of a photographic memory. They remember images of their favorite players or incredible moments. The Joe Carter home run leap. The concluding seconds of the Miracle on Ice. Michael Jordan's final shot against the Jazz in 1997.

In golf, one year stands out for images that will forever be burned in our skull. That year was ten years ago, in 1999. You had the David Duval eagle putt for 59 drop as his yellow Tommy Hilfiger shirt came untucked and a rare first pump ensued. Sergio Garcia closing his eyes to hit a shot from behind a tree at Medinah, only to run down the fairway as it somehow found its way on the putting surface, scissor kick and all. Payne Stewart's statuesque image when the winning putt dropped at Pinehurst. Jean Van de Velde, hands on his hips, standing in the Barry Burn at Carnoustie, pants rolled up, making the most famous triple-bogey in the history of golf. Any and all images from that Sunday at Brookline, when the Americans stormed back to beat the Europeans at the Ryder Cup.

GolfChannel.com decided to put all these in writing in something they're calling "Project '99", and had some of their most talented voices jot down what they remembered from the event personally. Rich Lerner, who has been with The Golf Channel since 1997, chatted with FanHouse about the Van de Velde collapse, amongst other things. Click away for a little trip back in time.

It's golf's offseason, which doesn't really mean much for fans and players alike except there aren't any majors, and the competition dwindles. It also gives media and players a chance to reflect on the bigger picture. Players evaluate their years and see what could be improved, promising to work on that before next year rolls out. Media has the opportunity to hand out awards, evaluate certain tours and find flaws in those tours.

That is where this concept came up, about the LPGA and their struggle to gain identity. You could argue that women's golf is the second most important female sport, behind tennis, but it still seems that women's golf has struggled this decade to resonate with sports fans, even some golf fans. Annika Sorenstam had moments where she became a story bigger than golf, but most of that dealt with a missed cut and a skirt, the latter being more of a Fred Funk prank than anything.

Rickie Fowler was asked on Friday, after a second round 64 put him in a tie for the lead at the PGA Tour's Frys.com Open, if he was still planning on going through Q-School next week to try and earn his tour card for 2010.

"Right now that's still the plan. First stage is starting next Tuesday," Fowler told PGATour.com.

The crazy thing is, he might not have to if he keeps this up. Fowler, just 20-years-old and playing in his second event on the PGA Tour as a professional, is tied for the lead at 11-under after rounds of 65-64, making one more eagle (2) than he's made bogeys (1) the last two days at Greyhawk Golf Course.

In the past 20 years, golf has a small number of images that have burned themselves deep into our brains. Greg Norman hitting his knees on Sunday at the Masters in 1996. A year later, Tiger Woods winning his first major championship and embracing his father, Earl, with such power and love that it made non-golf fans tear up. Payne Stewart, needing to hole a putt on the 18th green at Pinehurst, rolling it in and extending out on one foot, hand in the air, a memory lasting forever.

On Sunday, it will be 10 years since Stewart died tragically in an airplane crash, exactly four months and two days after that putt dropped at the U.S. Open. It was a moment that rocked the golf world, but gave everyone a chance to remember just how special Payne was to the PGA Tour. A religious man, Stewart wore a WWJD (What What Jesus Do) bracelet on his wrist that Sunday at Pinehurst, and, in typical Payne fashion, grabbed Phil Mickelson, who finished second that day, moments after the winning putt dropped and told him, "You're going to be a father," helping to ease the pain of defeat.

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For the last big event of the 2009 season, the Presidents Cup gave us more drama than the score might appear. A captain's pick failing to win a point (Gasp!). An 18-year-old rookie stealing the show for the losing team (Wow!). And, as you probably expected, the number one golfer in the world doing exactly what he does, week in and week out. So who left Harding Park a winner, and who will look back at this event wishing it never happened?

SAN FRANCISCO -- If there are three iron-clad certainties in golf, you have to figure close behind the balls having dimples and Tiger Woods having it all, comes the United States having its way in the Presidents Cup.

The Internationals came, they played, they got thumped.

Once more, without a lot of feeling.

Any drama a cold, gloomy-gray Sunday at Harding Park Golf Club hoped to generate, could not possibly have vanished any quicker.

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