Wheels come off Tiger, Mickelson at Bridgestone, leaving Woods tops

Aug 9, 2010, 2:16 GMT

Washington - Tiger Woods retained his PGA ranking as the world's top golfer on Sunday despite finishing one of the worst tournaments of his career.

He had Phil Mickelson to thank, as the second-ranked player delivered similarly, shockingly bad round, fumbling his opportunity to overtake Woods at a long last.

Amid the focus on gold's stumbling titans, 149th-ranked Hunter Mahan needed just 64 shots to finish 18 holes on Sunday, giving him the Bridgestone Invitational trophy with a four-day score of 12 under par.

Mahan leapt atop the leaderboard with what tied for Sunday's best score with Jim Furyk, and finished two shots ahead of Ryan Palmer, who was alone in second place for the tournament.

Woods finished 78th in the 80-player field with an 18-over 298, his highest score ever in a PGA Tour event. He has struggled most of the season after returning to golf following lurid revelations over the winter that he had be unfaithful in his marriage.

The Bridgestone Invitational seemed like the place for Woods to right his game, as it has been his most successful tournament with seven victories in the nine times he had played the event in Akron, Ohio.

Mickelson, who has spent most of his own sterling career chasing Woods, started Sunday in 10th place, within striking range of the fourth-place finish that would have vaulted him over Tiger in the PGA rankings. Instead, he struggled to find the fairways and shot 78.