Meanwhile, the previous day's leader, K.J. Choi, hung in tight as Steven Ames took the 10th hole and the lead. But it was underdog Rocco Mediate with zero skins who would rally the fans, hoping to seem him get the first of his career. Play on the 16th hole was electrifying as Mickelson came within six feet of the hole, only to have Ames come within five feet, then Mediate triumphantly topping them both as his ball rolled two feet from the hole.

For this feat, Mediate earned prizes from LG on for being closest to the pin on No. 16. His package included an LG French-Door refrigerator, steam dishwasher, range and microwave oven. He took the hole with a birdie and the $140,000 it was worth, stopping to talk on a fan’s cell phone, a stranger offering congratulations.

Choi also won an LG Electronics package after scoring an eagle on the par 5 14th hole.

When Mediate sank the putt, a gentlemen next to me replied that this sport takes luck. I told him that every sport does to some degree or the other. “Yeah,” he replied, “I just never seem to have it, and the pros do!” This was my first golf event and I took in the spectacle as an obvious outsider. Never before have I seen so many tucked in polos, with leather belts to boot, but then again this was my first event of this nature. It was evident that golf is a game of complete control, from the golfer striking the ball, to the silence of the gallery, all the way down the very hold over nature that the greenskeepers enforce. It is perhaps the only sport where the crowd goes on a journey with the players, walking alongside their heroes from hole to hole, and also one of the few sports where most of the crowd doesn’t have a clue what is going on, with everyone asking everyone else, “Who took the last hole? How much was it worth?” In short, it was absolutely amazing.

With Mediate earning a skin going into the final two holes, it was still anybody’s game, many fans foregoing the 17th hole to vie for position in and around the 18th and decisive hole. Just as in the 16th, each golfer one-upped the next, Mickelson and Mediate landing seven yards from the pin, Ames six yards, and Choi five. Mickelson, Mediate and Ames would all miss their puts by inches, paving the way for Choi to sink his put and become the ninth player to win the Skins Game in his first appearance, joining his opponent Ames (2006).

Choi earned $415,000, not bad for two days of golfing in the beautiful Coachella Valley with its great winter weather and pristine golf courses.

The Skins Game was first played in 1983 at the Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Ariz., for two years before moving to Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, Calif., in 1985. The Coachella Valley became a permanent fixture for the event beginning in 1986.

The Celebrity Course at Indian wells was designed by 1973 Ryder Cup player Clive Clark and I can’t tell you how many compliments it received over the day. Next year’s Skins Game will again be held by Indian Wells Golf Resort and Choi is guaranteed a spot. We’ll see who else is invited to take Choi’s crown.

Thanks to everyone at Indian Wells Golf Resort for their assistance in this story.

For more LG Skins Day 3 photos by John Garber, click here.

For more information about this year's LG Skins Game and next year’s, click here.