Mickelson set for hard Open road

Of all the world’s top golfers, no one has struggled more this season than Phil Mickelson but, as PJ Browne discovered, he has come early to this part of the world in order to get his game together for the Open Championship

PHIL MICKELSON can barely crack the top 10 in golf's world rankings. It's been almost a year since his last win at the Greater Hartford Open.

His decline has been precipitous and he has made no impact in any event this year. He is now dubbed 'the greatest player who might never win a major.' This seems harsh but, in truth, Mickelson is not the force he was even a year ago.

Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara, Scott McCarron and company will head for Ireland this week. Mickelson has been in Scotland since Monday, flying out shortly after another disappointing performance in the Western Open he finished at 5 under, 16 shots behind the winner Tiger Woods.

He will play in this week's Scottish Open in what he hopes will be a more thorough preparation for the Open. It's hard to be optimistic about his chances in either event, but Mickelson doesn't agree.

"My best performance in the Open (11th) came after I played Loch Lomond, so getting acclimatised early is important. But playing a competitive event (which he never does prior to a major) in similar conditions is another factor."

Will his golf game measure up to the testing Open conditions? His wayward driving has been startling this year. Keeping the ball in the fairway, crucial to success in the Open, is going to be his biggest task.

"My game hasn't progressed," he admits. "I've tried a few things with my swing but obviously I've been missing too many fairways.

"I am satisfied that my game is coming around even though you don't see it on the scoreboard. I have put in a lot of work recently with Rich (swing coach) and I know to get in contention and to like my chances to do well, the biggest thing is to get the ball in play off the tee and then I think it will be putting."

However, Mickelson's Open record is abysmal, and he knows it.

"In comparison to the other majors, I haven't played as well over here. My problem has been trying to find a balance between keeping the ball low and taking quite a bit off the spin. That's the biggest factor for me, controlling trajectory and spin rate, so when I do knock it down lower, I'm knocking some of the spin off of it.

"My iron play at the Open needs to be more effective, no question, and putting is always going to be a challenge especially in the wind."

Mickelson is indifferent to the observations that he's too self-satisfied, winning a lot of tournaments and a lot of money, with an enviable family and lifestyle.

"Having such a great wife and family as I do is a support system that I want and need to play my best. I don't want to be away from my family if I can help it so I bring them with me.

"I love that feeling of playing the last round or coming down the stretch having a chance to win, the nervousness and the excitement that goes with that. The opportunity to compete is what I love so much. Believe me, finishing second or third is much easier to deal with than finishing down the field. It's been almost a year now since I had that chance."

Mickelson is the consummate family man and is not despondent over his failure to land a major: "A lot of emphasis is put on the major championships and justifiably so.

"But too much emphasis is put on the number of major championships. Is that a benchmark of success? I don't think so. Is that a benchmark of a person's overall success? Definitely not. Golf is just a part of life; it isn't all of life. Don't get me wrong. I do want to win a major. I haven't forgotten how to win a tournament but I'm not gonna beat up on myself if I don't win a major."

For Mickelson, the Open is by far the most difficult of the majors and winning it would give him the greatest satisfaction.

"To win a British Open would definitely be the most gratifying, given the amount of alteration that I've had to go through to play there, meaning my golf swing had to take on a number of changes; my ball flight had to take on a number of changes; my visualisation of shots had to change to accommodate the ball landing 30 yards short of the pin; curving the ball more there to get to tough pins because you have to turn them around bunkers as opposed to just flying over them."

Having said all that, however, Mickelson says he does not intend to light up the scoreboard at Loch Lomond.

"I wont be watching the scoreboard. I see it (Scottish Open) as a vital part of my preparation for the following week. I will be working on a few things but if I am in contention then the competitive instinct takes over.

"My feeling this year is no different than it has been in the years past. I'm going to be more prepared than ever for this event. But I felt that way when I first went over and played. But after 10 years or so I know that where my game was 10 years ago and the shots that I had were not going to do well there. I can see the difference from today as opposed to years ago."

Mickelson will have to curb a reckless characteristic in his play and find a happy medium between being aggressive and overly zealous. "I won't back off in any situation," he vows. "If I can attack the pin I will. That's my game. I don't mind having to make adjustments in order to be competitive there. That's the smart thing to do. In fact I am getting more comfortable with the bump and run style of play."

That said, he has no interest in predictions: "The field is deep, the talent level possibly greater than ever. I'm looking forward to it. I think St George's is a tremendous course in the Open rotation and evidently there are a lot more sand hazards in play this time. I don't see the course favouring any one player. It's a course that will suit a guy who puts the ball in play, hits solid iron shots and makes putts."