Mickelson needs Scottsdale revival
Last October he slipped from second to third. On January 8 it was from third to fourth and this Monday it was from fourth to fifth.
Phil Mickelson has been on the slide in the world rankings – and if he is not on song in this week’s FBR Open in Scottsdale, Arizona, there is every chance the Masters champion will drop from fifth to sixth.
Having been passed in turn by Jim Furyk, Adam Scott and Ernie Els, he now finds his ranking average only 0.004 points better than that of Retief Goosen – and if the South African can follow up his win in Qatar with more success in Dubai then Mickelson can expect to fall further.
That is because Tiger Woods is in the Middle East with Goosen, and his presence boosts the number of ranking points on offer there.
To a certain extent, Mickelson has only himself to blame. After last September’s Ryder Cup he did not play again until the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic two weeks ago – and by returning with a 45th place finish there, followed by 51st at last week’s Buick Invitational, he has hardly put the spotlight on himself.
As well as trying out different drivers and putters, Mickelson admitted last week: “I was just rustier than I thought I would be. I didn’t have the touch with my irons, and my chipping wasn’t sharp.”
In contrast, of course, Woods came back from over a month off to win his seventh successive US Tour title at Torrey Pines.
Whereas Woods has had nothing worse than a second-place finish in stroke play events all around the world since missing the cut at the US Open last June – his first event back after the death of his father – Mickelson has not even managed a top-10 finish since blowing his chance of a third successive major win there with a double bogey on the final hole.
The left-hander will at least be expected to put that right over the next four days, because Vijay Singh and Geoff Ogilvy are the only other members of the world’s top 10 in Phoenix.
Singh won the season-opener in Hawaii and he, like Goosen, could climb above Mickelson in the rankings. Six months ago it would have been hard to imagine Mickelson as only the seventh best player in the world – but it is close to being a reality now.
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