"Don't want to be the bad guy" - When Phil Mickelson brought Tiger Woods' longstanding reign to halt

Phil Mickelson won the 2000 Buick Invitational by registering a four-stroke victory over Tiger Woods and Shigeki Maruyama. The win came after his 18-month winless streak on the PGA Tour back then, and with that, Mickelson also halted Tiger Woods' long streak of consecutive wins on the Tour.

Woods was in contention to clinch his seventh consecutive title at the 2000 Buick Invitational, but ultimately, Mickelson seized the victory. Speaking of his victory, Phil Mickelson said, via ESPN:

"I wasn't out to end the streak. I don't want to be the bad guy. I just wanted to win the tournament."

Tiger Woods also opened up about his unfortunate defeat, saying:

"It's disappointing I didn't win. I just wasn't hitting it good enough to give myself a viable chance down the stretch, and it finally caught up with me. To even be under par ... was kind of a miracle."

Tiger Woods was phenomenal with his game in the 1999 and 2000 seasons on the PGA Tour. His victory streak started with him winning the World Golf Championship-NEC Invitational in 1999.

Following that, Woods went on to win the 1999 National Car Rental Golf Classic/Disney, the 1999 Tour Championship, and the 1999 World Golf Championship-American Express, marking his fourth consecutive win.

Tiger Woods started the new season in 2000 with a victory at the Mercedes Championships and then the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his sixth official back-to-back win on the PGA Tour.

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A look into Tiger Woods' performance in 2000

Although his long victory streak ended with Phil Mickelson winning the 2000 Buick Invitational, Tiger Woods had a phenomenal season on the PGA Tour that year. He won nine tournaments on the circuit and recorded 17 finishes in the top 10 out of the 20 events he played.

Following the Buick Invitational, Woods played at the Nissan Open but struggled with his game and settled for T18. He recorded a runner-up finish at the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Championship, followed by a victory at the Bay Hill Invitational.

Here are the results of all the tournaments Woods played on the PGA Tour in 2000:

• Mercedes Championship: P1
• AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am: 1
• Buick Invitational: T2
• Nissan Open: T18
• WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship: 2
• Bay Hill Invitational: 1
• THE PLAYERS Championship: 2
• Masters Tournament: 5
• GTE Byron Nelson Classic: T4
• Memorial Tournament: 1
• U.S. Open Championship: 1
• Advil Western Open: T23
• The Open Championship: 1
• Buick Open: T11
• PGA Championship: P1
• WGC-NEC Invitational: 1
• Bell Canadian Open: 1
• National Car Rental Golf Classic Disney: 3
• THE TOUR Championship: 2
• WGC-American Express Championship: T5

Notably, Woods has won the Buick Invitational, which is now called the Farmers Insurance Open, seven times in his career. His first win came in 1999, and he then won it in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2013.