LOS ANGELES - He made a bogey. After 49 holes. And who knows how many air miles? Phil Mickelson, jet-setter, pacesetter, has brought his game down the California coast in a big way.

Pebble Beach? Riviera? He just keeps flying along, literally and figuratively.

The first round of the Northern Trust Open on Thursday ended like the last round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday, with Mickelson in first place. As we were warned he might be - by Phil himself.

"I get on hot streaks, and I play to win,'' Mickelson had said a day earlier. "I'm going to go for it. I'm going to play aggressive. And when I'm playing well, I make birdies and end up either in contention or winning.

"When I don't have it, my mistakes are going to be big. The way I look at the game, I want to try and win, and if I'm on, I usually have a good opportunity to win."

He was on Sunday. On TV screens to help produce record ratings. On a roll to beat Tiger Woods, with whom he was paired. On his way to a fourth victory in the AT&T.

Now? They still have three rounds left in the Northern Trust, but Mickelson has a one-shot lead after a 5-under 66. He very well could be on his way to a third win in this tournament.

"That kikuyu grabs the ball,'' he said of the African grass brought to Riviera years ago when polo was played here. "It doesn't give you great opportunities to run balls to the green. You have to fly it on."

A very appropriate phrase. Mickelson is keeping his golf balls and himself airborne. As in previous tournaments at Riviera, Phil is commuting from his home in Rancho Santa Fe, north of San Diego, maybe 100 miles away by private jet. He drives to the Palomar airport a few miles from his residence, zooms to Santa Monica's airport in 20 minutes or so, then gets shuttled another 5 or 6 miles to the course.

"I get to sleep in my own bed,'' Mickelson explained, "and I get to see my girls. I get home faster than (caddie) Bones McKay gets to his hotel."

A good thing too. Mickelson finished about 5:20 p.m., just before play was halted because of darkness. And, along with Brandt Snedeker and Kyle Stanley, as part of a threesome of players who have won the last three tournaments on the PGA Tour, Mickelson was scheduled to tee off at 7:27 a.m. local time Friday. Yawn.

Clear the runways. Clear the fairways.

When Mickelson failed to sink a 7-foot par putt on the 166-yard par-3 16th hole Thursday, his streak without a bogey stopped at 49. He hadn't been over par on any hole par since the second at Pebble Beach on Saturday, nearly three full rounds.

That bogey also briefly dropped him into a tie for first in the Northern Trust with J.B. Holmes and Hunter Mahan. Then Mickelson chipped in for a birdie on the uphill 18th, regaining the lead.

"It feels really good to get that extra shot,'' Mickelson said, "because I felt I left one or two out on 16 and 17."

After the bogey at 16, he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on 17.

"Your hate to have such a good round and let a few slide late,'' he said. "To make that shot unexpectedly on 18 felt like I got one back."

What Phil got back last weekend at Pebble Beach was his glow, his belief, his confidence. It was tough Thursday at Riviera, with gusts of those infamous Santa Ana winds coming out of the east at up to 35 mph. But nothing rattles him now.

"You could keep the ball underneath the wind, underneath the tree line, and still get it to stop somewhat on the greens because they were receptive," he said. "So I thought that even though the wind was challenging, it was still a fair test."

History is everywhere at Riviera. Howard Hughes took lessons here. Sam Snead and Ben Hogan won here. Humphrey Bogart and W.C. Fields belonged here.

"It's cool for us as players to play the same courses that many of the great players of the past walked and played,'' said Mickelson.

Approaching his 42nd birthday, he is old enough to have an understanding of those who preceded him and young enough to possess a game that still is competitive.

"It's a great compliment to the golf course to see it withstand the test of time the way it has, the way it's still a challenge for the best players, regardless of decades of technological advancements,'' he said.

It's a great compliment to Mickelson to hold off the challenge of men years younger.

"If you never give up,'' he said of coming from six back to win at Pebble, "and you fight hard, you can fight through some bad stretches and still come out on top."

This is a very good stretch for Mickelson. One bogey the last 52 holes? This is a fantastic stretch.