Win puts Mickelson at No. 3

Phil Mickelson, who defended his title at the Northern Trust Open with a strong finish, moved to No. 3 in the world in the golf rankings released Monday.

Mickelson began the week ranked fifth and played well at Pacific Palisades, Calif. He did fade some Sunday but got birdies Sunday at Nos. 16 and 17 to overtake Steve Stricker and win the tournament by a stroke. It was his 35th career PGA title.

Tiger Woods, who announced plans to return to competitive golf this week after months of rehabilitating a bad knee, is still the top-ranked golfer in the world and Sergio Garcia remained No. 2.

Mickelson’s move to third pushed Padraig Harrington down to fourth and Vijay Singh to fifth.

Henrik Stenson retained his No. 6 ranking while Robert Karlsson and Geoff Ogilvy are seventh and eighth, respectively. Kenny Perry switched places with Camilo Villegas and is ninth with Villegas 10th.

Stricker jumped seven spots from 20th to 13th with his runner-up finish this week.