Mickelson masters new clubs Golf

On American television, there is an on-running series of advertisements for Ford that is centred on Phil Mickelson's capriciousness where the player basically makes fun of his own unpredictability.

The series of ads is termed, "What Will Phil Do Next?" - and, on Sunday, in the Phoenix Open, the player did what he has failed to do since last year's US Masters: win!

As always with Mickelson, he did it his way. In ending that nine-month winless drought and finishing with a 68 for a 17-under-par total of 267, Mickelson - who leapfrogged Retief Goosen to move to number four in the world rankings as a consequence of this victory, the 24th of his career - claimed the biggest winning margin of his professional career, by five shots over Scott McCarron and Kevin Na, but included a round of 60 (in Friday's second round) along the way. And all with a bunch of prototype clubs.

If you remember, Mickelson turned up for the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills last year with a new club endorsement deal that had everybody shaking their heads in wonderment that he could contemplate such a drastic change of equipment on the eve of golf's biggest team competition. His performances in Detroit - where he took only one point from four matches - didn't make his decision-making or timing appear any the wiser.

Yet, he arrived last week at the FBR Open with a set of prototype clubs from Callaway in his bag. Among the new sticks were a driver never before seen by the public (460cc Fusion), a set of new irons (X-Tour prototypes), and a new ball (HX Tour prototype) featuring an amazing cover that features six deep dimples symmetrically spread out through the traditional dimple pattern. Even though the six dimples in question are twice as deep as normal dimples, they are USGA approved.

Mickelson said he put the ball in play the week of the Grand Slam, an unofficial event before Christmas where he shot a round of 59. "It's pretty good," he said. "I've had the two lowest scores of my life since I put the ball in play."

One thing is for sure, though - the game's top players have come out in 2005 with all guns blazing. Of the world's top-five ranked players, three have already won this season, while Ernie Els - in five outings on the US and European Tours - has four top-five finishes. World number one Vijay Singh won the Sony Open a week after finishing fifth in the Mercedes, although his 11th place in Phoenix represented the first time since last July that he has finished outside the top 10 in back-to-back weeks.

Tiger Woods has only played twice so far this season, finishing third in the Mercedes Championship and winning the Buick Invitational; while Els has had a runner-up finish in the Sony Open, two third-placed finishes in the Mercedes and the Dunhill Championship, a fifth in last weekend's Heineken Classic and a sixth in the Buick Invitational. Of the world's top five, only Goosen - 13th and 56th in his two outings in Hawaii - could be said to have had a slow start.

It is Mickelson's return to winning ways that perhaps whets the appetite more than any. "It was terrific, a great way to start the year. I'm excited about the way I've been playing because I could sense it (happening)," he said.

When asked if he felt he was playing as well now as at any point in his career, Mickelson's answer was monosyllabic. "Yes," he replied, without any expansion until asked the reasons why. "Well, the reason is last year, a year ago, I started working on the proper things with (Dave) Pelz and Rick Smith and, now, after doing the drills and working at it for a year, it's just gotten a lot better as far as distance control with the irons. (And) I got my distance back off the tee.

"I actually got criticised quite a bit last year for switching equipment. One of the things that we did in our testing, in our practice and all these drills, is to do it with different golf balls and to see which is more consistent . . . accuracy off the tees, which one hit more fairways, (and) which one was longer. I had to make a change, and I was very fortunate that I was in a position in a relationship with my previous company to be able to do that. I can't wait to get up to Pebble Beach. I can't wait to get back on the golf course. I'm excited about hitting chips, or putts, or tee shots."

No doubt, Mickelson's revived enthusiasm for the game will add further interest to a season that promises so much. In this week's AT&T Pebble Beach pro-am, Mickelson will have some extra European players to contend with as Darren Clarke, now 14th in the world, makes his first appearance of the season on US Tour while Graeme McDowell, who has played in the Far East and Australia over the past three weeks, and Paul McGinley, making his seasonal debut, are also in the field.

McGinley is now ranked 75th in the world, so he needs a decent showings in Pebble Beach - his first competitive outing since the World Cup in Seville last November - and next week's Malaysian Open if he is to force his way into the Accenture Matchplay at La Costa in a fortnight's time. Padraig Harrington, who opens his year's work in Malaysia next week, Clarke and McDowell are all confirmed for that event.

This week's tournament on the European Tour is the New Zealand Open where there are three Irish players in the field: Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie and Damien McGrane.