Mickelson brings double drivers back
Defending champ worries about missing full tune-up
The double-driver strategy will be back in play for Phil Mickelson at the Masters Tournament.
So is winning, as he has done two of the past three years at Augusta National Golf Club.
Mickelson is so focused on earning a third green jacket that he didn't even want to consider whether his and Tiger Woods' winning five of the past six Masters titles constitutes an era similar to 1960-66. That was when Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus won six of seven and posed at opposite ends of the Sunday-evening green jacket ceremony three years in a row.
"I hope not, because that would mean what I don't want it to mean this week," Mickelson said Tuesday after a practice round.
In other words, he wants to be on the right side of that jacket ceremony: having someone put it on, rather than his returning the favor.
Mickelson even feigned memory loss when asked how it felt to put the jacket on Woods in 2005.
"I don't know," he said. "But I remember what it felt like last year when he put it on me."
Wardrobes aside, the run-up to Augusta for Mickelson has been similar to last year's, when he won by two shots over Tim Clark.
Mickelson has one PGA Tour victory this season, had an indifferent Florida swing and will wield two Callaway drivers during the Masters, eliminating a sand wedge from his bag.
There are two subtle differences.
Mickelson's "long" driver, when he wants unrestrained distance on a hole, will be Callaway's FT-i "square" driver which he said he hits about 20 yards longer than his conventionally shaped driver, the Callaway FT-5.
Mickelson said he is bombing the FT-i so far that the other club is essentially a 2-wood.
"When I need distance, I use the square one," he said. "And when I try to hit little, low shots or work it around the trees on 10 or 13, I'll use the regular-shaped driver."
The other difference is that Mickelson didn't play last week. When the PGA Tour's Atlanta event was the week before the Masters, Mickelson usually played. Last year, he lapped the field to win by 13 shots.
Mickelson is slightly concerned that he hasn't finished higher than a tie for 17th since he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and finished second to Charles Howell in the Nissan Open in back-to-back weeks in February.
"Last year was the best-case scenario, to win by 13 (the week before) and not have stress ... I knew I was playing well," he said. "I feel like I'm playing well, but the scores have not been reflecting it ... so I'm a little nervous about that."
Mickelson said his week of practice with instructors Rick Smith and Dave Pelz has been productive. Still, there is a hint of doubt.
"I've had a good week with Rick and Dave to get my game sharp, and I feel good about it," he said. "But it's always another thing when it's time to tee it up on the first hole."
Other players aren't so sure Mickelson isn't poor-mouthing.
"Once he won (the Masters in 2004), all of a sudden it gave him the confidence to do it again last year," Woods said. "We've definitely gone at it in this event. Anytime you get to go at it with any of the top players in a major championship, and they are playing well, it's always fun."
Mickelson not only has won two of the past three Masters but he's also finished among the top 10 for eight years in a row and in 10 of the past 12 years. He has missed only one cut (in 1997) and trails only Woods on the all-time Masters money list, by $189,768.
"It's certainly a course that I feel comfortable on, and have played well here whether I've played well going in or not," Mickelson said. "It's a course I feel good on, but so does Tiger."
