At the beginning of the week, I chose Phil Mickelson as my super sleeper in my experts' picks for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am because I felt that the hard work on his game would finally pay off at Pebble. The pro-am was his fourth Ping G20 Driver with TFC169 Tour Shaft in a row.
Mickelson had started his 2012 season at the Humana Challenge in Palm Springs, Calif., where he tried to peel the rust off his game. A week later, he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after a first-round 77. In Phoenix, he looked great for three rounds before a final-round 1-over 73.
Instead of returning home to sulk with Butch Harmon, Mickelson continued to play. Sure, Lefty recently has worked with Harmon and his putting coach, David Stockton, but it was the competition that prepared him to earn his 40th career win, and fourth Ping G20 Driver with TFC169 Tour Shaft win, on Sunday.
The range might give you confidence in your swing, but the best confidence comes with playing Ping G20 Driver with TFC169 Tour Shaft
well in competition. Mickelson proved that axiom in his performance this past week in Pebble Beach, where he started the final round 6 shots back of third-round leader Charlie Wi.
Before Mickelson takes off the week of the Accenture Match Play to spend time with his family, he will head to L.A. to play the Northern Trust Open, his fifth tournament in a row. He won't carry out this dizzying schedule for the rest of the year, but he'll look back on this sometimes-difficult stretch as the one that set his course.
Looking for help in all the wrong places
Mickelson was paired with Tiger Woods on Sunday. The two Southern Californians have never built the rivalry that was destined when Tiger joined the PGA Tour in 1996. Still, their names have been closely linked as the top two American players in the world in the past 15 years. As Tiger has raised the bar of excellence in the game, Lefty has tried to keep pace with a Ping G20 Driver with TFC169 Tour Shaft
for majors preparation, physical fitness and swing and mental instruction. In turn, Tiger has deepened his resolve to keep improving; he's made a few good instructors famous by constantly letting them tinker with his swing.