In His Defense, Mickelson Hopes to Play a Lot Better

This is where it all began for Phil Mickelson last year ... five rounds in the 60s, 30 under par, a victory in his first tournament of the year, his first major title at the Masters three months away. If this is where it’s all going to begin again for Mickelson, at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he knows he’s going to have to do a lot better job on the greens than he did last week at Torrey Pines.

“Horrendous,” Mickelson said Tuesday.

Because most of his 2004 campaign resembled something much different, Mickelson worked Monday and Tuesday with short game guru Dave Pelz trying to get his act together and hopefully duplicate how he kicked off his season a year ago, a year that ended with a No. 5 ranking.

He had top 10 finishes at Phoenix, Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines and was a quarterfinalist in the match-play event at La Costa. After he tied for 24th at Doral, Mickelson was third at The Players Championship, 10th at the BellSouth, and then won at Augusta National with a birdie on the 72nd hole.

So when he tied for 56th at Torrey Pines last week and was 50th in putting, Mickelson knew he had some work ahead of him if he was going to post the low scores necessary to contend at the Hope.

“My short game didn’t feel as sharp, my putting in particular,” Mickelson said, “so I have been spending a lot of time on the putting green trying to get my putting game sharp for this week because we have to make so many birdies.”

He’s not the only one, of course. Mickelson is a two-time winner of the event, which has a purse of $4.7 million, with $846,000 the winner’s share.

Chances are it’s going to be a close race with no clear-cut favorites.

Davis Love III makes his 2005 debut this week and starts off today at the Palmer Course at PGA West.

Also competing are Scott McCarron and Kevin Sutherland, who tied for sixth at Torrey Pines, and Jerry Kelly, whose 67 was the top round of the day on Sunday when he tied for 11th. John Daly, who struggled to a 77-75 over the weekend at Torrey Pines in defense of his title and finished in a tie for 72nd, is playing this week.

There are also six over-50 players in the field -- Jay Haas, Peter Jacobsen, Tom Kite, Mark McCumber, Craig Stadler and Lanny Wadkins. Kite, 55, who was voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year, is playing the PGA Tour instead of the Champions Tour this year, using his top 50 career money list exemption.

Whatever the field, the challenge is not an easy one, considering it’s a five-day, 90-hole march through four courses while playing with amateur partners for four days. The rounds are long even if the courses aren’t particular challenging, but there’s enough to get your attention, especially if you’re part of the celebrity field.

Mike Weir, who won in 2003 and went on to win the Masters, says he tries not to become distracted when he plays with the celebrities.

“We’re used to playing in front of big crowds and I think when the golf is spread out over four different golf courses, if you’re not in the celebrity field, it’s like you’re playing on your own,” he said. “In some regards, it doesn’t feel like in a tournament. When we play in a celebrity group, there’s a buzz just like a normal tour event.”

It is standard for the defending champion to play with the celebrity field, but Mickelson declined to do so, just as he did in 2003 when he was the defending champion.

“The opportunity to play out of a celebrity rotation and be on a quiet golf course helps get my golf game ready for the rest of the year,” he said.

Mickelson says it’s a difficult assignment to play five consecutive rounds that maintain the intensity -- and scoring -- but that’s the task everyone faces.

“It’s hard to play four days straight,” he said, “but the great thing about here in the desert and playing with amateurs is that it allows us the chance to not have the most difficult pin placements, not have the thickest rough, and if we do have our game not as sharp as we would like, we’re able to get up and down, provided our short games are better than mine was last week.”

*

Desert Swing

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

* When: Today-Sunday.

* Where: Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West (6,930 yards, par 72), Tamarisk Country Club (7,003 yards, par 72), Bermuda Dunes Country Club (6,962 yards, par 72) and La Quinta Country Club (7,060, par 72); La Quinta.

* Purse: $4.7 million. Winner’s share: $846,000.

* TV: USA (today-Friday, 4-6 p.m.) and Channel 7 (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, 12:30-3:30 p.m.).

* 2004 winner: Phil Mickelson.

TEE TIMES D10