I am an unabashed fan of the Associated Press.

Ever since following NCAA tournament games minute-by-minute on a delightfully antiquated A.P. news machine during my college years (this was before such things as the internet – or, I believe, even cable TV – had reached Middlebury, Vermont), I have appreciated their ability to put together quick, concise and highly reliable copy from all over the universe. Indeed, I generally try to use A.P. stories for Monday’s Week In Review links because they are clearly an agency that deals in quality – and, as a bonus, their primary PGA Tour correspondent, Doug Ferguson, is one of the best in the business.

I say all of this to underline how astonished I was to read Sunday’s A.P. wrap-up from Doral (not under Ferguson’s byline, I must note) and find one of the silliest sentences I’ve ever seen in a golf article, which began:

“No longer the best player without a World Golf Championship, Mickelson now can set his sights...”

The palpably silly “Best Player Without A Major” label that some in the media forever toss about is painful enough, but now we’re elevating the WGC’s to what can only be called mock-epic status?

Sheesh...

But this is but a minor digression from what was, we can assume, a most satisfying triumph for Phil Mickelson – not because he broke some mythical drought in the Tim Finchem Invitational series, but simply because after beginning his year MC, T42 and T55 at Phoenix, San Diego and Pebble Beach respectively, he has now won his last two medal play starts (Riviera and Doral), the latter with Tiger Woods in the field. And he did so in an event in which Woods pipped him in 2005 (prior to the tournament's 2007 knighting to WGC status – meaning that Mickelson is also the “Best Player Never To Win At Doral”), and while battling a debilitating stomach virus that saw him carted off to urgent care late Saturday night.

And then there’s the Official World Ranking thing....which is really nothing at all, because even if Mickelson (or Garcia, or Oglivy...) does overtake Woods for the number one spot any time soon, it is infinitely more a function of Tiger’s prolonged absence than any of the contenders establishing themselves as a better (or even equal) player. Of course, forgetting for a moment the widely held belief that the World Ranking was originally created as a marketing tool by IMG to promote Greg Norman, its main purpose (like all such endeavors) is to generate fan interest in the game – and at present, who can suggest it isn’t succeeding handsomely?

As for Tiger, he’s 0-for-2 since coming back but as long as we’re asking questions, is there anyone out there who sees his dual WGC failings as anything more than plain, old-fashioned rust? The swing looks pretty sound, the putts will eventually start to fall, and unless Steve Williams once again forces him at gunpoint to try driving the third hole, he surely figures to contend deep into Sunday at Augusta. Of course, part of such an expectation is that at this stage of the game, one senses that the only events Woods genuinely gives a damn about – and with some good reason – are the four Major championships.

Being the “Best Player Never To Win At Riviera” does not, I suspect, keep him lying awake at night...