Phil, Tiger and the battle that never was

Tiger Woods pulled one hand off the driver during his follow through and yanked the club over his shoulder, flailing and twisting and shouting as his ball landed like a fried egg in the sand trap.

"Come on!" Woods screamed to a person standing beyond the No. 7 tee box at Sheshan International Golf Club. Spectators craned their necks to see who the shutter-bug was who had snapped a picture during Woods' back swing.

The No. 1 golfer in the world also cursed at the spectator, although it was one of the tamer phrases in his blue arsenal. Woods then scowled as he walked down the fairway, a solid mass of disgruntlement.

It was a familiar scene, and we might as well have changed the channel then and there.

The final round of the HSBC Champions figured to be a classic. It was the first time in four seasons -- and only the second time in seven -- that Woods and Phil Mickelson played together in the final group. The last time came at Doral in 2005, when Woods overcame a two-shot deficit to Mickelson to win the tournament and re-gain his No. 1 world ranking.

If that round is famous for its drama, then this round shall be infamous for its drudgery.

The duel that was supposed to happen between the top-ranked golfers in the world fizzed by the fourth hole, when Woods made a double-bogey five. His offline drive at No. 7 -- where he was trying to reach the green at a par-four -- led to a second bogey in two holes when it took him three more shots to get on the green.

By the time their threesome reached the turn -- Nick Watney was also along for the ride -- Mickelson had extended his two-shot lead over Woods to five. He did it by going just even-par on the front nine.

While Mickelson battled to hold onto his lead, Woods spun out of control.

We've seen this Tiger before -- frustrated by a large crowd, distracted by cameras, uncomfortable. When he throws out a stinker like that in the final group of a tournament, wearing his familiar red shirt and black pants, it's like reaching into a grab bag full of diamonds and pulling out a piece of lint.

They can't all be gems.

Anything that could go wrong, did, Woods said. He drove down the middle of the fairway on No. 10 and landed in someone's ball mark (that shot led to a birdie, one of five during a solid seven-hole stretch). Woods drove into the water at the 18th and made a closing bogey, finishing in sixth place with a 72.

"Just one of those days," he said.

In fact, Woods repeated that phrase four times during his post-round press conference.

"I just want to get out of here," he also said.

Woods would have needed to shoot a 67 to force a playoff with Mickelson -- the score he posted during the first two rounds to take a share of the 36-hole lead with Watney. But it was clear from the start that a good round wasn't in the cards.

Mickelson struggled as well on the way to shooting a 69, even whiffing completely on a shot with his 60-degree wedge. But he made enough birdies, including three in a key five-hole stretch on the back nine, to win the tournament.

"I think we all expected Tiger and myself would shoot in the mid-60s," said Mickelson. "(But) It was the groups in front of us (that did)."

Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy fired 63s and Ryan Moore had a 68 to emerge as Mickelson's closest challengers. Els finished second, Moore third and McIlroy fourth -- all making charges ahead of the final group.

Indeed, it was a bad time for the two best players in the world to be having off days.

The tournament, already a pretty big draw for top golfers because of its substantial prize purse, received an added boost this year when it was added to the lucrative World Golf Championships umbrella.

Fifteen of the top 20 players in the world rankings showed up in Shanghai during a time of year when many of them -- particularly the best Americans -- used to stay home.

Mickelson and Woods had made appearances before. Lefty won the tournament for the first time in a three-way playoff in 2007, while Woods was a runner-up in his two previous showings.

Woods, of course, is the winningest WGC player of all time with 16 championships. But instead of battling for his 17th on Sunday, he finished the tournament -- as the European players say -- "in an ambulance."

And the media who buzzed Saturday with the prospect of a final-round shootout between the two marquee names in golf on the horizon, were left writing a different story on Sunday..

"Will you talk to Tiger about your winning formula?" one Asian journalist asked Mickelson. The room erupted in laughter.

"He has won a lot of events," Mickelson obliged.

It's funny, until you think what could have been.

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