Marshal blog

Low profile suits Stricker in Riviera defense

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Defending champion or not, Steve Stricker is happy to keep a low profile coming into the 6.5 million-dollar Northern Trust Open that starts Thursday at Riviera Country Club.

"I really don't feel like I'm the guy to beat by any means," Stricker said. "I just try to fly in under the radar a little bit and try and do my own thing."

Stricker has two top-10 finishes in two US PGA Tour starts this year and a tie for 45th in his first foray to the Qatar Masters earlier this month.

Stricker said he enjoyed the trip, although it gave him a new appreciation for players who routinely traverse the globe.

"I found it very hard to go over there and concentrate and play well," he said. "I can see when these guys travel across from Europe to here how difficult it has got to be for them."

While Stricker is back in his comfort zone, he has had little of the kind of practice he prefers as his native Wisconsin remains in the grip of winter weather that prohibits playing golf.

"I'm a little rusty," Stricker said. "This time of the year I never know really what to expect from my game."

Stricker was encouraged by his play in Wednesday's pro-am, but noted that early rain already had the 7,325-yard, par-71 Riviera course playing longer with more rain forecast for Friday and Saturday.

"It's going to make it more difficult," he said.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson is the last player to win back-to-back US PGA Tour titles at Riviera, a historic course tucked into the hills in Pacific Palisades west of Los Angeles.

Mickelson won here in 2007-08 and the American reiterated Wednesday that he believes he is playing well, even though he has yet to claim a title in 2011.

"I've got just a slight hurdle to get over where I've got to get the scores down to how I feel I'm playing," said Mickelson, who was runner-up at Torrey Pines in January and finished tied for ninth at Pebble Beach last week.

"Some of that will be course management, some of that will just be getting a couple putts to drop.

"But I feel like I'm right on the cusp of playing some really good golf."

Bubba Watson, who edged Mickelson by one stroke at Torrey Pines, is in the field, as is Venezuelan rookie Jhonattan Vegas, the surprise winner of the Bob Hope Classic in January.

Mickelson will tee off alongside England's Luke Donald, who came on strong in the final round to finish runner-up to Stricker here last year, and Paul Casey.

The field also includes British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, who will be playing a US tour event for the first time as a tour member, plus three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland and, once again, Japanese teen Ryo Ishikawa.

Ishikawa, always a big draw in Los Angeles, will play alongside compatriots Ryuji Imada and Yuta Ikeda in the first two rounds.

Stricker will play with Dustin Johnson, who led the first two rounds here last year, and D.A. Points, who won at Pebble Beach on Sunday.

While none of the world's top three -- Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Tiger Woods -- are present, five of the world's top 10 are on hand as the golf world gears up for the World Golf Championships Match Play Championship in Arizona next week.

That will be followed a fortnight later by another elite WGC event at Doral as the countdown toward the Masters in April continues.