Time to Phil it up!
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Phil Mickelson feels good going into the tournament he won two years ago.
“Last week was good for me,” he said of playing the Scottish Open. “I was able to play links golf in some nice wind. I was able to work on my game, and my putting got better each week. The reason I’m excited this week is because I feel really good with the putter.”
Most of Mickelson’s problems on the greens have been with shorter putts, and that’s not necessarily the key on the Old Course.
“This golf course — it’s very difficult to differentiate yourself tee to green,” he explained. “It’s very difficult to get to some of the tucked pins and it’s very difficult to miss fairways because of the width. So the way you separate yourself is to make those 20-30 footers and if I can do that, I think I’ll have a good chance.”
Mickelson, however finds himself on the wrong side of the weather forecast.
“I’ve been watching it and right now I hope that it’s wrong,” he said. “Like I said, you need a little bit of luck. You never know what the weather’s going to do. The forecast is not accurate all the time, so you just don’t know how it’s going to play out. The goal is to play as hard as I can the first two days and have a shot on the weekend.”
TRUMP CHANGE?
Outgoing R&A chief Peter Dawson put off a question about including Turnberry in the British Open rota after Donald Trump’s controversial remarks on immigration. Trump recently purchased the resort.
“Well, it’s had a lot of publicity, hasn’t it?” he said. “We don’t have any decisions to make about Turnberry for quite some time, and I think we’ll just let a bit of time pass, and future championship committees will deal with them at the time.”
The RICOH Women’s British Open is being played at Turnberry this year.
OH, BROTHER . . .
Jordan Spieth isn’t just a great golfer. He’s a pretty good brother as well. He recently took his grandparents’ place at Grandparents Day at his sister Ellie’s school. She is autistic.
“I just went in there and I was just there to support her and hang out,” he said. “I was picking her up so I went in early and they had a little party and got to meet some of her friends in her new class, and yeah, it was fun. Any time I’m home I’m spending time with Ellie.”
ARNIE’S ARMY
Arnold Palmer was the main attraction in the Champion Golfers’ Challenge, a four-hole event played over Holes 1, 2, 17 and 18. The 85-year-old legend had made only one other swing this year, as Honorary Starter at the Masters.
Tiger Woods teed off with Mark O’Meara, just inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame this week, Nick Price and Tom Weiskopf, who birdied 18.
“I was definitely going to play, especially playing with friends like that. To us it was like four friends going out and playing, and to do it at the home of golf is even better,” Woods said.