Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods Making Masters Runs on Front 9

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are paired together on Sunday at the 2009 Masters. If I were to tell you that one of them was making a ridiculously meteoric rise up the leaderboard, purposely hooking shots out of pine straw to within five feet of the pin and slinging fist-pumps, you would tell me Tiger was on absolute fire.

You would be wrong. It's Mickelson that's making a run at the green jacket, posting an insane 30 on the front nine at Augusta to climb within one stroke of the leaders as he made the turn.

And make no mistake -- as I told Bacon, this is the most unexpected thing in the history of everything. Mickelson stated yesterday that a "64 or 65" might get him in it. I laughed, everyone laughed and it was one of those things that Phil "needed to say" with 18 holes remaining.

But then even with Phil a silly four-under through six holes, he managed to shawshank his tee shot on seven into the pinestraw. A decision to go for it via the hook looked ludicrous, yet he managed to stick it within five feet for birdie, sending the crowd -- whose collective back was to Kenny Perry and Angel Cabrera -- into a riotous roar.

Another birdie at eight (which followed an incredible eagle putt from Woods) gave Mick a shot at the front nine Augusta record. But an awkwardly errant tee shot at nine required some scrambling for Phil to "only" finish with a 30, tying the front nine record.

And remember, in case it wasn't too obvious already, Phil is doing all of this while paired with Tiger. Which is a situation that no one wants to deal with, and one that has traditionally rattled Mickelson beyond repair.

Mickelson right now almost seems like the favorite to pull out a green jacket, even with Cabrera and Perry having a few more holes to play. But Tiger's somehow not done either, sitting just four back of the leaders with nine to play. And maybe neither will win. Whatever, anyone who's watching right now is enjoying one of the most memorable Masters' Sundays we have seen in a long time.