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With the passing of Friday's 5 p.m. ET commitment deadline, the field for the Northern Trust Open, February 1-7, has been finalized and will include some of the biggest names on the PGA TOUR with defending champion Phil Mickelson coming to Riviera looking to become the first player in the event's 84-year history to win three consecutive times. Mickelson, No. 2 in the world, will be joined by Steve Stricker, who is one spot behind Mickelson in the Official World Golf Ranking and also finished the 2009 Northern Trust Open one shot behind him. Mickelson defeated Stricker on a day in which he started with a four-stroke lead, but needed to birdie two of the final three holes to secure a win after a rough patch of golf during the middle of his round. Stricker is coming off the best season of his career, having captured three PGA TOUR events (Crowne Plaza Invitational, John Deere Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship) and was one of just nine players since 2000 to win three or more times in a season. The seven-time PGA TOUR winner is one of two players with top-10 finishes in the first two events of the season. Joining them in the Northern Trust Open field is Fred Couples, captain of the victories 2009 U.S. Presidents Cup Team, who will be making his 28th start at the Northern Trust Open, with victories in 1990 and 1992. His amazing record at the tournament includes 25 made cuts, 19 top-25 finishes and 13 top-10 finishes. Couples finished last year's event with a final-round 69, two strokes behind Mickelson for a tie for 3rd. Couples was one shot off the lead on the 18th hole, but an errant approach shot led to a bogey and kept the now 50-year-old from having a chance to win the event for the third time. In his first event on the Champions Tour earlier this month, Couples finished runner-up by one stroke to Tom Watson in a thrilling final-round duel at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. Born in September of 1991, a year and a half after Couples' first win at Riviera, Ryo Ishikawa returns to make his second appearance at the event that gave him his first start on the PGA TOUR last year. He gained entry into the tournament by receiving a Commissioner's Foreign Exemption, the same method by which he was granted a spot in the field at last year's Northern Trust Open. Ishikawa will return to competition in the United States to make his first appearance for U.S.-based fans since October's Presidents Cup, where the 18-year-old Japanese phenom posted the best performance by a rookie on the International Team since 2003 (3-2-0). Also making his 2010 PGA TOUR debut is three-time major championship winner Padraig Harrington. Harrington began 2009 by making changes to his swing that contributed to a less than stellar start to the season. However, the Irishman finished the year with six consecutive top-10 finishes that included two runner-up finishes. Before the stretch of top-10s, Harrington was 130th in the FedExCup standings. The string of quality golf propelled him into THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola where he finished T4 and ended the year 7th in the FedExCup Harrington will be playing the Northern Trust Open for the third time in his career. Before missing the cut at last year's event, Harrington finished T3 and 7th in 2008 and 2007, respectively. The 2010 Northern Trust Open field includes 18 major championship winners with 28 major titles (including three of the four major winners from last year). Eighty-three of the players have won a combined 388 PGA TOUR titles, and a total of 14 countries are represented by the field. "We are excited about our field for this year's event. We feel like we have a great mix of some of the game's biggest stars as well as some of golf's best young talent," said Executive Director Jerry West. "I hope that fans will come out to Riviera Country Club to enjoy the tournament, knowing that their ticket purchase will go a long way towards helping the Northern Trust Open give back to the greater Los Angeles area." Harrington will be playing the Northern Trust Open for the third time in his career. Before missing the cut at last year's event, Harrington finished T3 and 7th in 2008 and 2007, respectively. The 2010 Northern Trust Open field includes 18 major championship winners with 28 major titles (including three of the four major winners from last year). Eighty-three of the players have won a combined 388 PGA TOUR titles, and a total of 14 countries are represented by the field. "We are excited about our field for this year's event. We feel like we have a great mix of some of the game's biggest stars as well as some of golf's best young talent," said Executive Director Jerry West. "I hope that fans will come out to Riviera Country Club to enjoy the tournament, knowing that their ticket purchase will go a long way towards helping the Northern Trust Open give back to the greater Los Angeles area."
About the Northern Trust Open About Northern Trust About the PGA TOUR In 2010, the three Tours collectively have tournaments in 34 states and in 12 countries outside of the U.S. PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to nearly 600 million households in 231 countries and 30 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as nonprofit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2009, tournaments on the three Tours generated nearly $109 million for local charitable organizations, bringing the TOUR's all-time total of charitable contributions to nearly $1.5 billion. The PGA TOUR's website is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the company is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
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