Feb. 23, 2009 -- With Hollywood looks and the excitement of a Disneyland amusement ride in his golf game, it seemed appropriate that Phil Mickelson would win his 35th tour event near Disneyland and Hollywood on the day of the Oscar Awards. What a thrill a minute, suspense-filled event this year's Northern Trust Open turned out to be! Best Picture? Best Thriller? Best Actor? I think we had it all right here at Riviera.

Phil Mickelson gave the crowd quite a show during the final round of his 35th career Tour victory. (Photo: Getty Images)

With rounds of 63-72-62-72, the Disneyland ride in honor of Lefty could possibly be Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, or how about we model a movie based on Indiana Jones' Wild Adventure to San Diego Phil's Wild Adventure? Phil started the day with a four-shot lead and then eagled the first hole. It looked like the runaway rout was on. But then, he started to struggle with his driver a bit, and as afternoon progressed, he was looking up at Steve Stricker on the leaderboard. But Mickelson was able to regain his composure, hit some incredible shots, make clutch birdies on holes no. 16 and 17 and then make a gutsy five-footer on 18 for par and the win.

Phil had a very busy week in addition to his roller coaster-like golf results. Phil would spend time with Rivera member and LPGA Hall of Fame member Amy Alcott for some course insights and he would fly swing coach Butch Harmon in from Las Vegas to work on his swing which they did twice on Saturday. Lastly, Phil would commute via his private jet from his home near San Diego to Santa Monica so that he could sleep in his own bed.

There were so many great shots, great stories within stories and so many things for golfers and golf fans to take away from Mickelson's victory, but what should really stay with you to help you in your game?

Well for starters, to focus on how you can learn from this victory, we need to try and forget the fact that Phil made 18-birdies and 3-eagles during the week that allowed for his continued ability to bounce back. When the average player bounces back, it may be getting off 6-bogies in a row or righting your self after 3-double bogies in a row. Mickelson only hit 51% of the fairways this week, but in typical Phil fashion was able to recover and hit 71% of greens in regulation. That's not a talent that most amateur golfers will be able to identify with.

Phil knows his game is up and down and thus, is not bothered by missed shots or bogies, he knows he'll get his share of birdies and in the case of this week, his share of eagles. Much like Tiger Wood's aura on the course, players know the explosiveness of Phil Mickelson and likely hear his footsteps. He is never out of it, he can always right the ship. And so can you.

The lesson learned today is to stay patient and become able to bounce back from your bad moments on the golf course. Golf's most important shot is the next shot. Don't get too caught up in what has happened in the past, particularly if it's something negative. A bad bounce, a missed putt, a bad score, all of those things have happened in the past and you can't do anything to change it now. But if you lose your focus, it will hurt the rest of your round as well -- the last thing you want. You may not need to bounce from 72 to 62 like Phil, but whatever a strong recovery means to you, focusing on the next shot will help you get there. Just like Phil.

John Abendroth, PGA, is a former PGA Tour player and NCAA All-American from Weber State University in Ogden Utah. He was also named the 2008 PGA Professional of the Year for the Northern California Section. He is co-founder and Director of Golf Operations for Celtic Golf Management in Northern California (www.plumaspinesgolf.com). John has been a co-host of Hooked on Golf (KNBR radio San Francisco, Fox Sports Bay Area, and www.hookedongolf.com) since 1994. For more information or to reach John, john@hookedongolf.com or www.hookedongolf.com.