Oakmont, Pa. – Phil Mickelson is nothing if not shrewd. Facing the likelihood of a barrage of questions regarding his 72nd hole meltdown in last year’s U.S. Open, entering play this week at Oakmont Country Club, the left-hander has managed to virtually avoid the topic altogether.
All it took was a wrist injury that put his game on the shelf for two weeks.
So, instead of queries about his potentially fragile psyche in returning to the scene of last summer’s crime against greatness, or what club he might use under final-round pressure on Sunday, the only shots being discussed Tuesday concerned cortisone. Instead of probing the viability of a weekend that would send most golf fans over the moon – a head-to-head duel with Tiger Woods with the national championship hanging in the balance – there was a weighty discourse on short-game coach Dave Pelz’s ties to NASA and his invention that was sure to take all the guesswork out of green speeds.
Hey, whatever it takes to get you through what’s arguably the most daunting challenge in the game. Facing four days on a 7,230-yard course, with greens so severe it’s rumored the USGA indeed has to slow them down for the visiting pros, was already going to be tough. Now, having not played since his triumph at The Players three weeks ago, it’s safe to say there’s a bit less pressure on Mickelson than there otherwise might have been.
“You do the best you can,” Mickelson said Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to this tournament and I’ve been looking forward to getting back here for a year and I’ve been thinking about this event. I’m excited it’s finally here. … I wish I had one more week of recovery and practice time to prepare properly, but you do the best you can.”
While Mickelson’s best is clearly plenty good – he’s won three majors, the 2004 and 2006 Masters and the 2005 PGA Championship – the U.S. Open has always been something of a white whale. He has four second-place finishes in the past seven years, with the 2006 denouement, a horrific final hole double-bogey that helped hand the title to Geoff Ogilvy, perhaps the most crushing result of all.
So, while it may be prudent for the convalescing Mickelson to talk about this week, not in terms of winning or losing, but rather day-to-day improvement, others wonder if there may be other factors at work.
“I think Phil has to decide what Phil wants – does he dare get into the final group with Tiger Woods? Forget about Tiger even – does he dare to even get the lead heading into the final round?” asks noted sports psychologist Bob Rotella. “You watch him and he’s changing teachers a month before the Open and you say, ‘He’s probably feeling some pressure. He hurt something on his wrist, he’s probably feeling some pressure.’
“It’s probably a good idea; if you win, it’s fantastic. If you lose, well, it’s, ‘We’re just learning a few new things, I’ve got a bad wrist I’m coming back from.’
“Anything that could help him not want it as bad as he might want it would probably be helpful. He wants a U.S. Open – winning the Masters isn’t going to put him in the record books, he’s won the Masters. Winning at TPC (Sawgrass, site of The Players) isn’t going to put him in the record books. Winning all the majors is big and he knows that, but you can want it so bad – maybe he tries too hard or over-prepares or whatever.”
Before last year’s Open at Winged Foot in New York, Mickelson’s pretournament reconnaissance missions reached double figures. This year, in part because of the injury, which occurred during a practice session here, there were only a few such trips. Similarly, since he arrived for the tournament, Mickelson has kept his activity to a minimum – on Monday he merely practiced chips and putting and hit balls for about 30 minutes. On Tuesday he did the same thing, then added nine holes of play.
During the abbreviated practice round, Mickelson was careful not to hit any balls out of the high grass that lurks perilously just off Oakmont’s narrow fairways. Could that be construed as prudence, or a measure of some lowered, pressure-alleviating expectations?
“I’ll do the same (today),” Mickelson said. “As the week goes on, I’ll probably do more and more. I should be able to play, no problem. I probably won’t be pain-free like I had hoped, but I should be able to have it be manageable as long as I don’t aggravate it or hit it in the rough.”
No, no pressure there.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
