News Index

Ad: Click here for more info

Phil Mickelson has spent a lot of time getting to know Winged Foot in recent weeks. (Photo: Getty Images)

With a few days to spare, Mickelson's ready to go

Masters champion Phil Mickelson has his strategy all set for this week's U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Now it is just a question of whether he has the game to stick to it. He's learned the course, and can only hope he's as sharp as he was at Augusta.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (PA) -- Masters champion Phil Mickelson has his strategy all fixed for this week's U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Now it is just a question of whether he has the game to keep to it.

Two months ago, Mickelson headed to Augusta on the back of an astonishing 13-shot victory in Atlanta. And nobody and nothing could stop him capturing a second major title in a row.

For the U.S. Open, the left-hander's warm-up has not been so impressive. He finished only 18th in the Barclays Classic, nine strokes adrift of winner Vijay Singh, but he says he's ready to go.

"It's exciting the U.S. Open is now here," he said. "Winged Foot is one of the hardest set-ups heading in that I've seen and we're all going to have our work cut out.

"Obviously it's nice to have won the Masters, but right now I'm trying to turn my attention to the U.S. Open as much as I can," he added. "I think I've learned the golf course as well as I possibly can and hopefully come Thursday my game will be sharp and I'll be ready to play."

Comparing last week's course to this week's test, he added: "They're very similar, although Winged Foot is comparatively probably a little on steroids now with the rough grown so high, the fairways so tight. I guess we have our own steroid problem in golf!

"I thought it was a good week's preparation," he said. "I spent a bunch of time over at Winged Foot this week as well."

Mickelson was even here for two hours prior to the final round at nearby Westchester.

The world No. 2 has yet to decide whether to repeat his Atlanta and Augusta policy of playing with two drivers in his bag, one for fades and the other for a longer draw.

"It'll probably be a day-to-day decision based on the weather, but it doesn't look like it," he said. "It looks like I'm going to use a special driver Callaway made specifically for Winged Foot.

"The course has so many nuances to it," he said. "Every green has a little roll or a little knoll and it's very hard to pick it all up in the first trip or two, so I ended up spending quite a bit more time over here because of that."