Can Phil Mickelson Crack the Open Championship Code at Muirfield?

Can Phil Mickelson Crack the Open Championship Code at Muirfield?
The 43-year-old American Has a One-Sided Love Affair With Links Golf

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Chris Chaney July 15, 2013 9:59 PM




COMMENTARY | One of the biggest enigmas in professional golf remains why Phil Mickelson, one of the most creative and talented players of his era, has (up until last week) largely struggled playing links golf.

By most accounts, links golf is the purest form of the game; the challenge is a shot-maker's dream and one that more often than not rewards players with the vision and wherewithal to pull off difficult, albeit unusual shots (by PGA Tour standards).

Mickelson, a winner of more than 50 professional events and four major championships, has had a one-sided love affair with the oldest form of the game. Heading into the Scottish Open -- which he would go on to win in a playoff over Branden Grace -- Mickelson continued to reaffirm his love for golf in Scotland in general and with links golf, in particular.

"I think it would be one of my greatest accomplishments to be able to conquer links golf and to win an Open Championship over here," Mickelson said. "Although I've come close maybe twice, I have not really played my best golf. I think I've identified a couple of reasons why. It's time to shoot the scores and hit the shots that I've spent 20 years working on."

Mickelson has played in the Open 19 times, beginning in 1991, and despite making the cut in all but four of his starts, he averages a finish of 38th and boasts just two top 10 finishes. His best finish came two years ago when he tied as runner-up at Royal St. George's to Darren Clarke. His other top 10 came in 2004 when he finished solo third. The last time the Open was at Muirfield in 2002, Mickelson finished in a tie for 66th.

The San Diego native has a habit of talking a good game going into the Open, saying he is embracing playing the game along the ground, despite the fact that his entire golfing career has been played nearly exclusively through the air.

The question becomes whether he is truly embracing the style of play necessary to succeed on the British Isles or supremely confident enough to believe he can use his Americanized-through-the-air style to win an Open Championship.


Mickelson seemed to find a solid mixture of the two styles last week at Castle Stuart. The premium links golf places upon driving accuracy has long been one of Mickelson's biggest bugabboos in past failures at the Open but thanks to his new Phrankenwood, Mickelson has been able to find a more consistent ball flight while not sacrificing much of his distance.

This week at Muirfield, accuracy off the tee promises to be a large contributor to success, but according to reports from the ground, the course is running firm and fast, forcing many players, including Mickelson, to rethink their equipment makeup.

The Golf Channel's Todd Lewis reported that Mickelson will once again go driver-less at a major championship and even Phrankenwood-less at the Open, opting instead to -- wait for it -- put a fifth wedge in the bag.

The Mickelson mix, while not the conventional recipe for Open success, might figure to provide the 43-year-old his best chance at a Claret Jug this week at the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

Of course, we must consider the source. No player has ever won the week before the Open Championship and gone on to win golf's oldest major. Then again, no player has ever brought as much flair and unpredictability to the Open as Mickelson.

Could this be the year that Mickelson breaks through and solves the Open puzzle, or are we destined to be left scratching our heads once again at week's end and wondering if Mickelson truly has embraced links golf?

Chris Chaney is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based sportswriter. He has written for multiple outlets including WrongFairway.com, Hoopville.com, The Cincinnati (OH) Enquirer and The Clermont (OH) Sun.

Follow him on Twitter @Wrong_Fairway.

Muirfield brings out best in those who conquer

Muirfield brings out best in those who conquer

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PGA.COM July 15, 2013 10:46 PM

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All seven players who've won an Open at Muirfield since World War II are all in the World Golf Hall …


By Doug Ferguson, Associated Press

MUIRFIELD, Scotland -- One of the best players who never won a major would love a crack at one now.

Colin Montgomerie used to say it was harder than ever to win a major because each year it seemed that Tiger Woodswon two of them, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh won another and that left only one for everyone else.

Those days, at least for the moment, are gone.

Over the last five years, 18 players have won the last 20 majors, none of them named Woods. And the winner? It could be anybody. Darren Clarke won in his 54th major. Keegan Bradley won in his first. Rory McIlroy won when he was 22. Els won when he was 42.

The next chance is the 142nd Open Championship, which returns next week to Muirfield for the 16th time dating to 1892.

Muirfield is reputed to be the fairest of the links courses on the rotation, mainly because there are no tricks and very few blind shots. The course consists of two loops running in opposite directions so that golfers will face the wind in every direction by the end of the day. Muirfield is perhaps more predictable than the others.

Not so predictable is finding a player at the top of his game.

The search ordinarily would start with Woods, and for good reason. The world's No. 1 player already has won four times this year.

Now, more mystery envelops Woods. He offered limited details at the U.S. Open about an injury in his left elbow that had been bothering him for a month.

McIlroy is one of two players to win multiple majors in the last five years - Padraig Harrington, with back-to-back major wins in 2008 is the other - only Boy Wonder has become an afterthought this year. After building a big lead atop the world ranking at the close of 2012, he made a wholesale equipment change at the start of the year and has had only one reasonable chance to win, at the Valero Texas Open.

After missing the cut at the Irish Open, he said he felt ``lost.''

Graeme McDowell has three wins, second only to Woods this year, though even he isn't sure what to expect. In his last eight tournaments, McDowell has won three times and missed the cut the other five times. At this rate, there's simply no telling what kind of game he'll bring to links along the Firth of Forth.

"When it's been good, it's been really good,'' McDowell said.


If there is a trend in this year's majors, it is the emergence of quality players whose careers were elevated by winning a Grand Slam event.

Most players would have been devastated to lose a four-shot lead with four holes to play as Adam Scott did last year in the Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Scott later said he would have been crushed had he been watching a performance like that from home. Poised as ever, he realized he played the best golf for 68 holes and took that to understand he could do it again.

And that's what he did, winning the Masters in a playoff to end more than a half-century of Australian misery at Augusta National. Scott hasn't been Down Under to celebrate since he slipped on that green jacket. In his mind, the year was still young. There was much left to achieve, more majors to win. And there is a feeling of redemption he brings to the Open, even though he seemingly atoned for that collapse by winning his first major.

"I'm really looking forward to going back and trying to get myself in a similar kind of situation, a chance to win the Open,'' Scott said. "The hardest thing is going to be curbing the expectations right from the start. But it's exciting. Every tournament, I feel, is an opportunity for me now ... to just build on this.''

Not long after winning the Masters, he sent a text to Justin Rose that ``this was our time.''

Rose lived up to his end of the prediction by winning the U.S. Open with three clutch shots at the end for a two-shot win. They have been friends and colleagues throughout their careers, born two weeks apart, both having endured their share of struggles.

"It hit me really at the U.S. Open that if you're not willing to experience the heartache and heartbreak of losing a major, then you can't really truly play your best stuff and be free enough in the moment to get it done,'' Rose said. "If you're kind of apprehensive to what it might feel like to lose, I think for me that's just what struck me. I was good with the fact that you just have to put yourself in that moment time and time again, and be willing to just keep knocking down the door.

"That's kind of what I learned as well from Adam.''

Woods can't relate to any of this, of course. He won his first major as a pro with a record performance at the Masters. He had the career Grand Slam when he was 24. He was on his way to a calendar Grand Slam in 2002 when Muirfield and some fickle weather stopped him.

But he is seeing more players emerge to challenge him - McIlroy the last two years, Scott and Rose this year.

During the 12 years that it took Woods to win 14 majors, only three players who won majors were younger than Woods - Ben Curtis in the 2003 Open, Geoff Ogilvy in the 2006 U.S. Open and Trevor Immelman in the 2008 Masters.

Since his last major in the 2008 U.S. Open, there have been 12 players younger than Woods who won majors, including six of the last seven. This is as deep and well-rounded as golf has been in years. And Woods isn't getting any younger.

"If you look at most golfers, their prime years are usually in their 30s,'' Woods said. ``It takes a while to learn how to win at this level and learn how to do it consistently. I think that you've got to learn what you can and can't do. There's so much to learn out there, and I think that generally you see some of the guys don't mature into their games until their 30s.''

That doesn't make this major any easier to predict.

Even so, Muirfield has a way of bringing out the best. Dating to World War II, the seven players who won an Open at Muirfield are all in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Captain's Blog: Andy North added as vice captain

Captain's Blog: Andy North added as vice captain

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PGA.COM July 16, 2013 7:45 AM

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2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson has named his good friend and two-time U.S. Open Champion Andy …


By Tom Watson 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - The Greenbrierseemed to be the logical place for me to announce my good friend, Andy North, as a vice captain for the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

I have close ties to The Greenbrier. Plus, I wanted to make this announcement at a PGA Tour event and here we are this week for The Greenbrier Classic. This is a place where a lot of young guys are just getting started on the PGA Tour. To me it's a wonderful place to watch the passion and the way the young players approach the game out here - the seriousness of it; the newness of it to a lot of them. I remember when this was all new to me. You can see it here at The Greenbrier.

I wanted to make this announcement at a regular PGA Tour event, because the players - or the actors, so to speak - will be coming from the PGA Tour. I'm going to be the stage manager and try to create all the cues for the players to hit and all that, but they have to go out and perform. The bottom line is, can they perform better than the other team? The other team has been performing better than our team. I'm going to try everything in my power - and Andy will as well - to create a situation where our team will perform better than theirs.

My friendship with Andy dates back to 1967. Any time you have a friend, you can talk honestly to that friend about anything. Whatever conversations I have with Andy, I've always known that they're private and they're not going to go anywhere else. I really, truly value Andy's observations.


Already we've been talking about players who have played on the Ryder Cup team before, potential new players who may play on the Ryder Cup team. That process has started. I value Andy's input. He's been out there and he's watched a lot of these players play. As an analyst and announcer at ESPN, he watches the leaders play. He sees how they play under the heat. A Ryder Cup is all about heat - pressure. I want the best pressure players possible. Andy sees that up close and personal. What better person to have as a vice captain than a guy who's been doing this for many, many years?

When I asked Andy to be a vice captain, I was elated. It was an easy choice for me to make. He brings a value to the process because, like I said, he's up close and personal with these players as a walking announcer for ESPN. He knows what players are doing. He knows their mannerisms. As a two-time major champion, he knows what they're feeling too. He sees things we might not see on TV. He talks to their caddies sometimes. All of that is invaluable information in making choices for the team. Nine players will make the team and then there will be three captain's choices. With those choices, there's going to be a lot of input in making the decision on who those players are going to be based on the criteria I've given: heart and guts; who's going to make the 5-footer every time when they have to; can they play in bad conditions and can they play with a lead?

In the next few weeks I'll be playing in the Open Championship, the Senior British Open and I'll also stop to take a look at Gleneagles and the Centenary Course for the first time since being appointed captain. Andy and his wife, Sue, will be joining me at Gleneagles.

We'll get a good look and start talking about logistics. We'll see how the flow goes over there. The logistical flow. How do you get from point A to point B? What are the rooms like? What type of team rooms do we have? Timing will be a lot of it too. The clubhouse is about 300-400 yards from the hotel. Logistics will be the key consideration on this trip - the course won't be much. (Editor's note: The PGA Centenary Course has been undergoing renovations for the 2014 Ryder Cup and was scheduled to re-open on July 5, 2014).

We'll get a look at the course, but I'm not going to tell the players how to play the golf course. That's not my job. They'll figure out how to play the golf course. If they ask me, I'll certainly have an understanding of the golf course.

I'm going to do everything I possibly can as a stage manager to make it so that these guys can perform their best.

Follow 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson on Twitter, @TomWatsonPGA.