Mickelson’s first major?

COULD it finally be about to happen? Round one of the 85th US PGA Championship sees Phil Mickelson right up there after a sparking 66 suggesting this may well be the week when he rids himself of the tag that has haunted him for the past ten years — the greatest player in the world never to have won a major.

On a day when his nemesis Tiger Woods could do no better than 74, the gifted left-hander finished four under par in spite of picking up a couple of bogeys on his way around the superb 7,134yds, par 70 Oak Hill lay-out. There's a long way to go and even his greatest adherents fear he will find a way of tripping himself up somewhere between now and Sunday.

Furthermore, the pressure on Mickelson will be intense as the realisation dawns that he could hardly have set himself up any better. He has won 21 times on the US Tour. He captured the NCAA title twice and the US Amateur in 1990 during a glittering amateur career. He actually won on the Tour before turning professional. He picked up five titles before he was 25 joining Jack Nicklaus and Jerry Pate in doing so. He has picked up more than a million dollars a year for the last seven years.

But, in spite of all that, and 45 attempts before this week, he has yet to win a major! It's an astonishing statistic and one you might imagine was driving Mickelson to distraction. He denies this is the case and is too gentlemanly to point out that other distinguished players have even more to be unhappy about. (Colin Montgomerie was contesting his 50th major yesterday and shot 82!). But it must hurt and it will hurt even more if he fails to convert the wonderful start he has given himself. In fact, he needs a win, almost any win. At the beginning of the season, Phil was 2nd in the world rankings. Now he's 11th and without a win on tour since the 2001 Greater Hartford Open.

His progress will be watched closely wherever golf is played and in Ireland as much as anywhere. Few have forgotten the impression he made on his visit to Portmarnock for the 1991 Walker Cup match when he hit the opening shot miles down the first fairway before tossing the driver to his caddy in a manner which clearly indicated follow that if you can! Later in the same Walker Cup, he sprayed a shot into the gallery and afterwards made a smart alecky and unfavourable remark about Irish women. Although it was tongue in cheek and wasn't to be taken seriously, it most certainly was and still rankles with small sections of Mná na hÉireann.

Phil hasn't been back since, apart from a few visits to some of our finest links on the week before the Open Championship. More's the pity and it really is a shame that he rarely competes internationally because there was little chance of wooing him to Portmarnock for last month's Nissan Irish Open even though it was being played the week after Royal St Georges. When I raised the subject with one of his management team, T.R. Reinman, a one-time press tent colleague, he fell around the place with laughter. "Phil does not play internationally," he stressed.

So it's got to be television for the vast majority when it comes to watching Mickelson and, to be fair, he rarely lets you down. He likes the bold, positive approach. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but the fans seem to love it that way. Even when he throws tournaments away, they don't hold it against him. His humour doesn't desert him and if there's a grumpy side to his nature, it hardly ever shows. Then there was the encouragement derived from his very solid performance in finishing 6th at the International in Denver last week.

"I came here knowing I was playing better than I had all year because of my performance last week when I went back to trying to lengthen my swing as much as I could," he explained. "It's as soft and as smooth as it's ever been. Playing golf in New York is amazing. Down south from here in Bethpage (at last year's US Open) was one of the most amazing experiences I ever had and it's the same here in Rochester. I really enjoy playing a round of golf when you have this kind of support from the community. It's wonderful."

Mickelson kept away from the pre-tournament press tent interviews this week insisting that he wanted some time to himself to get things going again. And now he was prepared to elaborate: "About a month ago, I could feel things starting to turn around a little. I began to feel very confident with elements of my game, especially off the tee. I'm going to miss tee shots but if I miss them on the proper side, I can maybe be okay and salvage par."

Not alone that, but he also attended a session of the Buffalo Bills football team, noting: "I had never been to a training camp and the Bills are literally thirty seconds from here. It was nice to get away from the golf course and mentally and physically have a little bit of a break and get ready for today. It was fun, I love football and it was a very interesting experience."

Not surprisingly, he refused to discuss his miserable record in the majors but even then the gentlemanly side of the guy emerged as he allowed: "It would be pretty cool if I could do it this week. It won't affect my thought process. I need to drive the ball well. I like the greens, they're not very quick and I've been able to get a good feel for them. Generally, I felt very comfortable on the golf course. These courses tend to get progressively more difficult as the week goes on and you want to take advantage on Thursday and Friday. The forecast says it won't rain so the greens will dry out and get very difficult on Saturday and Sunday."

Mickelson, however, wasn't getting ahead of himself. He pointed to the large amount of golf still to be played and scorned any attempts to get him to look as far ahead as Sunday. He's been down that road too often. Perhaps, though, the next three days will open an entire new chapter in the fascinating life of a great natural talent and fascinating sportsman.