Mickelson Tries to Stay in Focus for Final NCAA

Phil Mickelson has been chasing Ben Crenshaw’s collegiate tracks all season. He gets one more shot in the sun and sand at this week’s NCAA Championships.

The Arizona State left-hander, the NCAA individual champion his freshman and sophomore seasons, can become the only player to match Crenshaw’s three national titles when he matches his PGA Tour-bound swing against collegiate golf’s best at The Championship Course at the University of New Mexico.

The 72-hole tournament begins Wednesday over the par-72, 7,246-yard course that abounds in desert terrain, large greens and the ever-present threat of severe spring winds.

Mickelson, a USDHS graduate, has won 15 tournaments in his collegiate career and for a time this season was within reach of Crenshaw’s record of 18 wins. But Mickelson has struggled the last two months and had his string of 24 consecutive top 10 finishes snapped in April at a tournament in North Carolina.

And on the eve of the opening 18 holes, Mickelson was noncommittal in an assessment of his game.

“I don’t know if I’m (peaking),” he said. “And I haven’t thought about (winning a third NCAA title) yet. I’m just trying to focus on what I need to do to accomplish it. Right now, I’m just trying to win a golf tournament.”

Win or lose this week, Mickelson will debut on the PGA circuit later this summer. His next stop is Memphis, where he’ll try to qualify for this month’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Mickelson left the PGA his calling card when he won the $1 million Northern Telcom Tucson Open in 1991. He turned down the first place purse of $180,000 to remain at Arizona State. The groundwork for his turning pro is now in place.

With the NCAA still in the picture, Mickelson hasn’t signed any contracts for equipment endorsements. But he’s been testing one set of clubs after another and will break in a new brand at this week’s tournament.

“I’m excited about moving on,” Mickelson said. “I think it’s very flattering some of the things being said about me.”

Standing in Mickelson’s fairway to a third NCAA title is one of the tougher fields in the tournament’s history.

Defending champion Warren Schutte of UNLV, whose final-round 67 at Poppy Hills on the Monterey Peninsula gave him the individual title last year, is back.

The hottest player on the collegiate circuit right now is La Jolla product Harry Rudolph of Arizona, whose stroke average over the last month has been an impeccable 68.38. He won the NCAA West Region two weeks ago at the Tucson National course with three consecutive 67s.

Also among the individual favorites are Georgia Tech’s David Duval, second behind Schutte last year, and Craig Hainline of Oklahoma State and Mickelson’s former USDHS teammate, Manny Zerman of Arizona, who tied for fourth in 1991.