Monday, a good two months before the first shot is struck at Winged Foot, Phil Mickelson declared his preparation had begun for the U.S. Open.
Had such a statement been made three years ago there may have been outright guffawing. Even eight months ago there may have been some rolling of the eyes, perhaps a couple of snarky comments about “Phil being Phil.”
Now, however, with the past two major championships under his belt, what once seemed like hubris now seems unassailable.
“I’ll go to the course a couple of weeks prior and map out my strategy, how I want to play it, as well as the shots I’ll be using, and try to practice those,” Mickelson told reporters in San Diego, where he showed off his newest green jacket, courtesy of his victory in the Masters.
Speaking of his new, pre-major routine, Mickelson, who won the 2005 PGA Championship, added: “I just have a lot more confidence that I’ll be able to play well. Now, I don’t always do it, but I certainly have more confidence that I’m able to.”
It’s not like Mickelson will be spending all his time merely practicing flop shots between now and the Open, which begins June 15. While he’s skipping this week’s Houston Open, the left-hander will in essence play a three-weeks-on, two- weeks-off schedule heading into the season’s second major. Mickelson will play next week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, then the Wachovia Championship and the Byron Nelson. After two weeks off, he will hit the Memorial and the Barclays Classic just before heading to New York.
While Mickelson is clearly emphasizing majors, it’s doubtful any of the “routine” tour stops he will make along the way will feel slighted in the least. The BellSouth Classic got a boatload of publicity after Mickelson won that event by 13 shots the week before Augusta.
Now those other events can boast of having the Masters champ. Tournament officials in New Orleans are grateful Mickelson committed early to their event, which helped drum up interest in the first tournament held in Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina.
What the pre-Open events likely won’t get though is the two-driver approach Mickelson used to great success at the BellSouth and Augusta.
“There’s just no intention for me to use that driver there,” Mickelson said. “I anticipate more 3-woods off tees than drivers, so there’s really no need for distance. As long as Winged Foot is, we’ve got to get in the fairway there.”
Point, counterpoint
Listening to the sniping that goes on among the powers that be in golf is good for a chuckle or two. The PGA Tour says it won’t lengthen the TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship, a reference to the Masters’ obsession with tinkering with its course. The Masters counters that it was forced to expand its playground because the USGA failed to regulate rampant technology.
Now the USGA has recently decided to debunk a number of “myths” about today’s game, particularly how it’s played by professionals.
In a recent release the organization states: “As you may know, the United States Golf Association acts to regulate equipment so that skill remains the most important tenet of the sport. The USGA is often asked to address the needs of a game that appears to be changing. Facts and opinion need to be considered when the USGA makes important decisions about golf equipment.”
Among nine points cited by the USGA, it states it’s false to believe golfers with faster swing speeds get disproportionately greater benefits from today’s new balls; that golf ball distance isn’t regulated; that driving distance on the PGA Tour is increasing rapidly; or that the longer you are, the more likely you are to finish atop the money list.
Details of the USGA’s research can be found on the organization’s website, www.usga.org. We eagerly await the next chippy comeback from Georgia or PGA Tour headquarters.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
SPOTLIGHT: LORENA OCHOA
One more hurdle to clear
In Ochoa’s first five starts this season on the LPGA tour, the 24-year-old lost in two playoffs, setbacks that in some quarters added to her reputation as a player who couldn’t seal the deal down the stretch. But even though she eventually lost her three-day lead in the Kraft Nabisco, Ochoa began to sway opinions by forcing extra holes with a dramatic eagle on the 72nd hole.
Last week, in the tour’s first start since the major, Ochoa won the Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas. Again, Ochoa led after the first two days of the three-round event, but this time, although a pack of players gave chase, she didn’t relinquish the lead.
Now, like Phil Mickelson, the perceptions are changing – all that’s needed to make the transformation complete is a win in a major. In her fourth year on tour, Ochoa has won four times. She also has eight top-10 finishes in majors over the past four-plus seasons, but that statistic pales with the recognition that the 2005 U.S. Women’s Open at Cherry Hills Country Club could have been hers had she not chunked her tee shot into the water on the 72nd hole.
One-upmanship
In their friendly rivalry, one area in which Tiger Woods has made a bit of headway over Annika Sorenstam is in title defenses. Both lost out in their attempts to repeat as champs in the first majors of the year. However, so far this season, Woods is 2-for-3 in title defenses, with repeat wins at the Buick Invitational and Ford Championship. Sorenstam is 1-for-3, winning the MasterCard Classic but losing the Safeway International the week before the Kraft Nabisco. Sorenstam can catch up this week at the Atlanta Charity Championship, one of six LPGA titles the Swede can still defend this season. Here’s the list:
Tournament Dates
Atlanta Charity Champ. Today-Sun.
ShopRite LPGA Classic June 2-4
McDonald’s LPGA Champ. June 8-11
John Q. Hammons Classic Sept. 8-10
Samsung World Champ. Oct. 12-15
Mizuno Classic Nov. 3-5
Mickelson has made major change
“I think the old Phil would rely on those amazing moments to kind of vault him along in the tournament, eagles and chip-ins, skip the ball across the water, whatever, bend it around the tree. That’s the way he used to play majors a lot.”
Amy Mickelson, on her husband’s advancement
This week in golf
PGA Tour
Shell Houston Open, Redstone Golf Club, Humble, Texas
What’s up: Vijay Singh last won a tour event in August. If he’s going to end his drought, this is likely the place – he has won the past two and three of the past four years.
LPGA Tour
Atlanta Charity Championship, Eagle’s Landing C.C., Stockbridge, Ga.
What’s up: Annika Sorenstam won by 10 shots last year, but seven former champions are in the field.
