Lefty back in comfort zone
NORTON — When he needed it the most last year, Phil Mickelson delivered a big performance at TPC Boston. In the midst of a winless campaign, he stitched together four rounds in the 60s to finish tied for sixth, his best finish of the year in a stroke play event.
The next day he earned a spot on the Presidents Cup team. He rewarded captain Steve Stricker by going 3-0-1 at Liberty National to help the United States win 19-11. Mickelson and Kevin Kisner formed a formidable pairing, winning 2.5 points in three matches, before Mickelson defeated Adam Hadwin in singles.
“I like this course, this tourna- ment and it’s been good to me over the years and last year really helped turn things around,” said Mickelson, who is making his 12th straight appearance at TPC Boston and has four top 10s including a win in his debut in 2007.
The 48-year-old is looking for big things once again as Jim Furyk will make three of his four captain’s picks on Tuesday for next month’s Ryder Cup.
“I need to have a good week because I want to make it easy for him, and I’m going to,” Mickelson vowed. Mickelson, who is 10th in the FedEx Cup standings, had a good start to this season with five top 10s in his first eight starts including a win in Mexico.
Since that victory in early March, however, there has been just one top-five finish at Quail Hollow in May. So the lefthander is hoping another strong finish at a track that he enjoys can provide a similar ending to a year ago.