Mickelson is Scottsdale's man
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com Correspondent
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- His voice is still a little raspy -- the last remnant of an upper respiratory infection that kicked him in the shorts. For months.
Three rounds of antibiotics -- starting before he went overseas -- has brought Phil Mickelson back to level par, if you will. But he may keep the husky voice.
Wife Amy likes it, he smiled.
That tie for sixth Sunday afternoon at the Buick Invitational wasn't bad either. Especially considering how rusty -- and puny -- he was feeling at the start of last week. Started slow, finished fast. Yet with you-know-who running away with the Buick Invitational, it felt more like a 26th-place finish.
"As the week wore on, I started to play better each day,'' Mickelson said. "I had a good weekend, and I feel like I'm starting to play some good golf, and I expect to have a good week this week.''
He's not alone. Here at TPC Scottsdale, Mickelson is the man. The people's choice. The one player who gets them revved up starting on the first tee.
Mickelson's won the FBR Open twice, including the last time the Super Bowl was being held across town. That was 1996 -- it was called the Phoenix Open back then -- when he beat Justin Leonard in a playoff, and the world discovered the most exciting hole in golf.
Back then, Mickelson was still a kid, and the 16th hole was just loud. Now it's deafening. Rival-the-decibel-level-at-the-hardest-driving, heavy-metal rock concert you can imagine.
"It's a cool feeling to get up on the tee box and be surrounded like that,'' he said. " It's kind of a stadium effect, and we don't have that in golf. Normally, everybody is the same height as the players, and to have that stadium effect where both sides are built up, it's a cool feeling.''
Even when you get booed. And, yes, Mickelson has had his share. Everyone has. That crowd doesn't go for so-so shots. Even from him.
Mickelson, who lived in Scottsdale for a dozen years, is almost always in contention here -- five top 10s and two wins since '96 -- but struggled here last year. He hit the ball solidly but didn't putt well at all and wound up missing the cut for only the second time in the past 17 years.
"I spent the next three or four days after this event, all I did was putt,'' he said.
And the following week, he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am. Not long afterward, he split with longtime swing coach Rick Smith and turned to Butch Harmon. And as they close in on a year together -- they've worked mostly to straighten out his erratic driver -- Mickelson likes what he sees.
"I'm seeing results off the tee,'' Mickelson said. "I'm feeling results, different sight lines, I feel more confident. I think this is going to be a good year. I'm really looking forward to 2008.''
Mickelson defends next week, then again at THE PLAYERS in April. In between, he's got a solid schedule that includes a trip to Rivera where he lost a playoff to Charles Howell III last year, and there's that little event known as the Masters where he's won twice.
He's so set on playing well in Augusta, he's added the Shell Houston Open, an event he's played just three times, to his schedule the week prior to the Masters.
"The biggest issue I have had in the past when I don't play the week before the majors is I get off to a poor start, and last year's Masters when I did not play the week before, I was 5-over through seven, about shot myself out of the tournament,'' he said. "I fought back to get in contention somewhat on Sunday, but it was that first seven-hole stretch that really killed me. I feel like I need to be competitive and play competitive rounds leading into The Masters.
"The tournament at Houston said that they are going to try to set the course up as close to Augusta as possible, same width fairways, same kind of first cut, same green speed, and so I think I'm going to try it and see if it's a good place to warm up for The Masters.''
But the real stretch begins Thursday when Mickelson tees it up and tries to go 2 for 2 here during FBR Open/Super Bowl doubles. And, yes, that has been a topic around town.
Mickelson's last win here was in 2005 when he held off Scott McCarron and Kevin Na, but the '96 win is the one everyone still talks about. Leonard tied Mickelson at the 17th with a 3-footer; they both parred 18, and it was game-on.
"I remember a lot of shots, but the key one was the playoff hole, the second playoff hole, No. 10,'' Mickelson said. "I made about an 18 footer to keep the playoff going for par that curled in, kind of getting dark. I think that was the one that I looked back on as the highlight. ''
Later that day, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in Super Bowl XXX.
No matter what happens come Sunday night, Mickelson doesn't think he'll make it to XLII at the University of Phoenix Stadium. He would have if his beloved Chargers had made it, but since they didn't ... he's content to sit out the 12-point favorite New England Patriots vs. the New York Giants.
He's not even making any predictions. Even though he did ask an NFL writer Wednesday afternoon how Tom Brady was doing.
"I think it's pretty obvious what's going to happen,'' he said.
And here? Well, he's the man. He's back on track. And he's ready to see if he can go 2 for 2.
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