U.S. Open

U.S. Open: Phil Mickelson excited to be paired with Tiger Woods for first two rounds

By Carl Steward
 06/12/2012

Phil Mickelson didn't hedge his emotions Tuesday when asked about being paired with Tiger Woods for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open.
"Fabulous," Mickelson said. "I'll tell you why. First of all, I get excited to play with Tiger. I love it. He gets the best out of me. Second is, the one player I'm most concerned about if I play my best golf who I feel may have a chance to beat me is Tiger."
Mickelson certainly has strong recent evidence to suggest he gets up to play alongside Woods. They
were paired together for the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and Mickelson played one of the best rounds of his life, an 8-under 64 that propelled him to a runaway victory.
Early in his career, Mickelson took regular thrashings from Woods whenever they were paired or in contention together. But over the last half decade, Mickelson has had the upper hand.
"When we first started playing, I don't know what it was exactly, but I didn't play my best when we were paired together," Mickelson said. "The last five years or so, I've been able to focus clearly when we play, I've been able to enjoy the challenge of playing with him, and I always enjoy his company."
Mickelson has admitted to issues of motivation and "mental fatigue" in recent weeks but knows that won't happen at the Olympic Club.
"I don't know why it's been like that, but it's something I need to fix as far as being ready to play Thursday and Friday,"

he said. "The feeling I got when I found out I was paired with Tiger for the final round at Pebble, it got me excited and focused. I felt a similar feeling when I found out we were paired together here."
Mickelson has 40 PGA Tour victories and four majors triumphs but still lacks a win at a U.S. Open, even though he has finished in the top 10 nine times in 21 starts and wound up second five times.
Mickelson, 41, doesn't consider himself a favorite this week but does believe he can still win an Open, and possibly here.
"This is a tournament where, if you look at my game from 20,000 feet, you'd say that's probably not the best setup for the way he likes to play. And yet five times I've had opportunities, I've come close. Could have, should have won a few of those. And it gives me the belief that I can compete and be in contention on Sunday in this tournament."
Luke Donald is No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings but might be the least recognizable figure in his own glamour threesome with defending champion Rory McIlroy and frequent majors contender but nonwinner Lee Westwood.
Like fellow Englishman Westwood, Donald hasn't had much success in Grand Slam events, particularly the U.S. Open. He's 0 for 38 in majors, and his best finish at the Open is a tie for 12th in 2006. He tied for 47th at Pebble Beach two years ago and was tied for 45th last year at Congressional.
Donald, 34, doesn't want to dwell on the past but knows what he has to do.
"I've been winning pretty consistently over the last couple of years, and I've just got to bring that to this level," Donald said.
Donald was informed that even though he's No. 1, it's McIlroy who was honored with a bobblehead at Tuesday night's Giants game. What does he need to do to get one?
"Probably win a U.S. Open by eight shots," he said. "Or at least by one."
It's been awhile since an Englishman won a major, let alone an Open. Donald was asked what a thrill it would be to do so during Queen Elizabeth's jubilee back home.
"Not sure the queen will be watching, but who knows?" Donald said. "If she is, hopefully I'm one of her favorites."
McIlroy got an advance glimpse of the bobblehead that was given away at Tuesday's Giants game.
"I think it's maybe better looking than me, which is a good thing," he said.
McIlroy admitted that his own group, including Westwood and Donald, will definitely play second fiddle to the Woods-Mickelson pairing with Masters champ Bubba Watson.
"If I was a golf fan, I'd want to watch that group, because I'm sure you'll see some fireworks," he said.
San Mateo native and Olympic Club member Michael Allen was reveling in his first U.S. Open news conference on his home course at age 53, but he had a rude national welcome -- writers poured out of the interview room as he entered, primarily because he had to follow Woods.
"Wonder where everyone went to," he said with a grin.
Allen estimates he has played 2,000 rounds at Olympic over the years but isn't sure that will help him against 155 other players who are all younger than him.
"Well, let me see, am I favored or not?" he said. "I'm not sure here. Who has a chance to beat me? Oh yeah, everybody in the field."
Allen was 14 when he joined the Olympic Club, the same age as Andy Zhang, believed to be the youngest qualifier ever. Allen said he never broke par until he was 16, so he is amazed by Zhang.
"I wouldn't let my 14-year-old kid go backpacking over the weekend, besides letting him go to the U.S. Open," he said. "My God. You watch some of these young kids and how far they hit it. ... I'm sure this little punk hit it past me already. ... Oh, excuse me, kid."
Zhang was 7 months old when the Open was staged at Olympic in 1998.
"I hope he's really good and can date my daughter," Allen said.
Steve Stricker was in Lee Janzen's group on the final day in 1998 when Janzen's ball dropped out of a tree on the fifth hole, a stroke of fortune that launched his run to victory. It's believed that tree has been cut down, but Stricker wasn't sure because his memory is foggy.
"I couldn't tell you which one was Lee's tree," he said. "I heard they cut down a lot of trees here, but there are still a few over there on the right."
He still remembers the ball dropping out, however.
"We were all mingling around that area on the right and Lee was almost back to the tee," Stricker said. "I can't even remember if I saw it come out of the tree, but I heard somebody yell, 'Hey, it fell down!' So we got him to come back. I don't even know what he did with his second shot, but I remember him chipping in."