When Phil Mickelson missed the cut for only the third time in his career at Torrey Pines, many wondered if the inconsistent play was due to rust or a lack of practice during the offseason.

Turns out it was none of the above, after Mickelson’s wife, Amy, revealed to the San Diego Union-Tribune that her husband’s mind was most likely on his daughter Sophia during the Farmers Insurance Open, after the 10-year-old fainted and suffered a small seizure at school.

Sophia spent Friday through Monday at Children’s Hospital in San Diego and returned for a battery of tests on Thursday while her dad was struggling to a 5-over-par 77 on the South Course during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open.

You can’t blame Mickelson for thinking about his daughter during the first round. After all the medical scares his family has gone through in recent years — his wife and mother both battled cancer — the last thing you want to hear about is one of his children suffering a seizure.

The good news is Sophia was able to return to school on Friday, the same day her dad fired a 4-under 68 in the second round. Hopefully that’s a positive sign for not only the family, but Mickelson’s game as well.

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The golf world is used to having Tiger Woods in contention going into the weekend, but over the past couple of years, the one thing that seemed to be missing from his game — besides the usual Sunday fist-pump — was the ability to stay in the hunt on Saturday.

Even though Woods managed to finally break the winless streak at Sherwood, he still faltered during the third round at Chevron, posting a 1-over 73 that ultimately made things interesting in the final round. There was also the 3-over 75 at the Australian Open that saw his lead, and tournament chances, crumble on Saturday.

For whatever reason, staying in contention on Saturday has been one of Woods’ biggest hurdles. But all that finally changed on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, as Woods fired a bogey-free 6-under 66 to grab a share of the lead with Robert Rock going into the final round.

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The lead also marked the first time in more than two years that Woods has held the third-round lead in an official tournament. Despite many questioning Woods’ victory in a limited-field Chevron event, it’s clear from the way he’s played through three rounds that we could be witnessing the start of a very special year for the former No. 1.

How good was Saturday’s round? Put it this way, for only the second time in three rounds, Woods missed only two greens and did not make a bogey. Not only that, but he managed to get around the Abu Dhabi Golf Course with only 30 putts.

His swing and his putter finally seem to be on the same, but here comes the most interesting part for Woods: Closing the deal on Sunday. Woods has won 48 times in 52 PGA Tour events when holding the 54-hole lead, meaning he’s almost a sure thing when he’s playing from the front.

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But with little experience or success — he blew a 54-hole lead at the Chevron World Challenge — in recent years, you have to wonder how Woods will handle Sunday’s pressure. We’ve seen him thrive in these moments before, but that was a different Tiger Woods.

Finding a way to win from the front could go a long way to silencing the critics, breaking his winless streak in official events, and getting 2012 off on the right foot. He’s 18 holes away from making that a reality.

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Brandt Snedeker has never had the pleasure of hoisting the Farmer Insurance Open trophy, but he’s certainly come close a number of times, including a second-place finish in 2009, and third-place finish in 2007.

Based on his past success, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s once again in contention to win, after he posted an 8-under 64 on Torrey Pines’ North Course during Friday’s second round. He’s just one shot back of leader Kyle Stanley — 4-under 68 on the South Course — who’s looking for his first PGA Tour win after a couple close calls last season.

Even though fan favorite Phil Mickelson missed the cut — we’re guessing it had something to do with the Rees Jones redesign — there’s still enough competition at the top to make the weekend interesting.

Some rules in golf might not make very much sense, but they are still rules. You can’t test the conditions of a bunker. No grounding your club in a hazard. If you drop a ball and it hits your ball marker and move it you could be penalized.

But they are the rules, and we golfers must abide by them. That’s why on Friday, when Rory McIlroy went and swept some sand out of his way on the ninth green, he knew almost instantaneously that a two-shot penalty was heading his way.

You see, removing sand in your line is totally fine if your ball is already on the putting surface, but Rory wasn’t, and after brushing some sand away, was told by playing partner Luke Donald that what he did might not be legal.

“I just brushed the sand and Luke was like, ‘I don’t think you can brush sand off the fringe,’” McIlroy said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re right.’ Just one of those things.”

He went on to make double-bogey on the hole, his second of the day, but managed to make three birdies over his closing nine holes to post an even-par round of 72, keeping him at 5-under for the week and just two shots back of leader Thorbjorn Olesen.

While McIlroy might have struggled with some rules problems, playing partner Tiger Woods was having a fine day, and his 3-under 69 has him at 5-under as well, and in a great position for the weekend.

The last time we saw a Luke in the desert this big, he was getting attacked by sand people, amirite, people?

Anyway, this is Luke Donald, World No. 1, “playing” a dune in Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert. The desert is the world’s largest uninterrupted sand mass, which means you’re probably not going to get out of it in one stroke. No grounding your club!

Donald, of course, is playing the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and other reasonably well-known names. Alas, Donald is T32 after two rounds, sitting six strokes off the lead at -1. But at least he’s got a little more experience getting out of the bunkers.