tim;rosaforte
tiger;pairing;sparked;lefty
phil mickelson doesn’t need
butch harmon or a mind
coach. he just needs a sunday
tee time with tiger woods.
besides his arthritis and his
wife’s cancer, mickelson
spent the past three weeks
distracted by his daughter’s
illness, the sale of his house
and the filing of an anti-defamation lawsuit.
when he had to control his
ball off the tee, change trajectory, instead of bomb’s
away,” harmon pointed out.
ing touches on his fourth
major and third green jacket.
i hit harmon with this observation after he landed in
houston sunday night, as
mickelson tapped in for a 64
that sent him past woods
and the rest of the field at
the at&t pebble beach national pro-am. “works every
time,” harmon said.
the competitive focus wasn’t
there friday at monterey
peninsula gc, when phil was
“moping,” and wife amy
needed to give him a pep
talk. phil shot 29 on the last
nine holes but lacked energy
at pebble saturday and shot
70 to fall six shots off the
lead. the saving grace: his
final-round pairing.
Julie elion, the mind coach,
gets an assist too. although
mickelson doesn’t like to
talk about this aspect of his
preparation, elion has been
inside the ropes since last
summer. asked if he had
a sport psychologist and if
she helped him out, phil said
coyly, “maybe and yes.”
woods and mickelson
weren’t paired that week,
but they were in 2009 when
tiger shot 68 to finish t- 6
and phil trumped him by one
stroke (67) and one place in
the standings (fifth).
well, not every time, as
mickelson reminded everyone after making the
at&t his 40th career win.
tiger got him often early
in their 16-year rivalry. but
the last five times they have
been paired in the final
round, mickelson won the
individual battle, and three
times—including yesterday—won the tournament.
and don’t downplay amy
flying in from san diego or
Jim mackay’s work as a caddie. they all had a hand in
phil’s victory, a win he called
“one of the more emotional
victories for me,” because of
the self-doubt that crept in
after a slow 2012 start.
“it’s only been the past five
years,” mickelson reminded
everyone. “before, i got
spanked pretty good. let’s
not forget the big picture
here. i’ve been beat up.”
harmon does get an as-
sist on the golf part, flying
on mickelson’s dime in a
leased jet from las vegas to
scottsdale last saturday. so
does the weather. as butch
explained, when it gets cold
and wet, as it did over the
weekend, that’s when mick-
elson dials back.
maybe so, but for the past
five years phil has been giving the beatings.
as butch said, works every
time.
mickelson admitted as much
afterward. “i love playing
with him,” he said. “he brings
out some of my best golf. i
just seem more focused.”
“he had his best finish in
the british open last year
by now, we should be ac-
customed to this from phil.
before his 2010 masters
victory, he had only one top-
10 and was coming off t-30
and t-35 finishes before a
final-round 67 put the finish-
