Castle Rock – Unlike Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and others taking off this week to practice for the PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson returned to The International because he prefers to prepare for majors by playing the previous week.
“I played here last year and I liked my performance the following week,” Mickelson said, referring to his 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
“But more than that, I really like this golf course. I like the tournament. I like the way the course is set up to favor aggressive play. And I think everybody who has played here has enjoyed the Stableford format.”
Mickelson said he has practiced certain shots that could come in handy at Medinah. But the left-hander said his focus beginning with today’s opening round at Castle Pines will only be on winning The International for a record third time.
Case in point: Medinah, which will play to 7,401 yards, is a driver’s golf course. However, with the Castle Pines rough being exceptionally thick this year because of July rains, Mickelson plans to use his 3-wood off the tee more.
“If it’s warm (and the ball flies), I expect to hit more 3-woods,” Mickelson said Wednesday after playing in a pro-am.
Although Mickelson may favor different clubs to factor in the elevation, he considers playing in The International to be good practice for the year’s final major championship, despite the differences.
“I think I’ll have a better feeling for how I’m playing after playing a round or two here,” Mickelson said. “I know how I’m hitting it in practice. But until you get out into competition, you don’t really know.
“The rough is up, but the course is in as good a shape as I’ve seen it in years,” he added. “It’s just perfect. The greens are nice, the fairways are great. We’re going to see a lot of birdies even though the course is playing tough.”
Mickelson hasn’t played competitively since July 23 in the final round of the British Open. That gave him an opportunity to go to Chicago to play twice at Medinah. Although Medinah’s length should give Mickelson an advantage, he only tied for 57th place in the 1999 PGA Championship there.
But this is a different Phil Mickelson. He has won three major championship in the past two years.
“I think the best way to get ready for next week is to get into contention here and try to win this tournament,” Mickelson said. “This is how you can get the sharpest.
“Certainly, that helped me play better at Augusta this year, winning the week before (BellSouth Classic) and getting into contention.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 and tkensler@denverpost.com.
