Bones, Lefty and Butch
Phil Mickelson is making a fresh start in his approach to links golf after 17 attempts have yielded one third place at Royal Troon in 2004 and a host of lowly and disappointing finishes. “I’m entering this year kind of like a fresh start. I’m not going to worry about past performances and I’m going to try to learn and enjoy the challenge of playing links golf. I don’t want to look back on past performances that haven’t been what I expect. But I feel excited and kind of reinvigorated to try to learn this style of golf and play it effectively.” He admitted that during today’s practice round he had played terribly. “But I really enjoyed it,” he insisted.
With a strong wind scouring the course he hit a driver at the 243-yard par-three 11th hole. “I busted a driver and came up short,” he said. “It was interesting to see a drive on 17 go 380 yards and a drive on 11 go 210. The air is so thick and the wind is so strong and it shows the importance of trajectory and flight. I think it’s a fun challenge whether I play well or not.”
After the thick rough and narrow fairways of 2003 he believes the course is now a much fairer test. “I’m very excited about the way the course is playing and the way it’s set up. It was really fun today. I wouldn’t say there’s an absence of rough, but it’s certainly not the wedge-out thick rough that we had in ‘03.
“To me the subtleties of this golf course come through now that we’re able to keep playing and not having to wedge back to the fairway. The first hole is a great example of what I see throughout the rest of the golf course. There are three bunkers in front of the green that you have to clear and the front of the green is pitched away pretty severely so you have to be in the fairway to get the ball stopped. If you’re coming out of the rough and it doesn’t have any spin, there’s no way you’ll stop the ball on the green.
“In 2003 the rough was so thick that you didn’t have a shot if you missed the fairway. You had to wedge back to the fairway so everyone was hitting from the fairway essentially even though only a third of the field managed to hit the fairway. Because of that the subtleties and the nuances and what really makes this course strategic didn’t come through the way they are this week and now its starting to really shine. I know the guys are really starting to enjoy it. I know I am and I’m starting to appreciate the golf course now.”
The man who has won three Masters and a USPGA Championship has no concerns over the lack of American success in the Majors over the past two years — five have now passed without the Stars and Stripes being raised — and he puts it down to the depth of talent that is now so evident internationally. “The quality of play now on the international circuit is some of the best I’ve seen. That probably explains it.”
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