Bob Harig, ESPN Senior WriterMar 24, 2011, 12:54 AM
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- Senior golf writer for ESPN.com
- Covered golf for more than 20 years
- Earned Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University
ORLANDO, Fla. -- He's been down this road, too. So many times now. The prelude to the Masters. The fretting, the fidgeting. Is he ready?
Jim "Bones" Mackay has been there for every one of Phil Mickelson's trips to the Masters as a pro -- including the three victories -- and Lefty's longtime caddie chuckles when the subject is broached because, well, how would you ever count him out?
The start to 2011 has not exactly been stellar for Mickelson, who added this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational to his schedule because he didn't much care for the competitive results he has been posting with the year's first major championship looming.
And yet, does it even matter? Can Phil get to Augusta, drive down Magnolia Lane, walk onto the course and be transformed?
"What happened last year certainly backs up what you're saying," Mackay said Thursday after Mickelson opened the tournament with a 2-under-par 70. "There is something very inspiring about that place. He gets fired up."
Mickelson concurred. "There's no place like Augusta," he said.
So Mickelson is here at Bay Hill, trying to find some form after an indifferent season to date.
In six tournaments on the PGA Tour, his best finish was a tie for second at his first one -- the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January.
Since then, there have been no top-10 finishes and an ugly final-round 76 at Doral two weeks ago in which he found 14 bunkers on the TPC Blue Monster course.
A good tournament here, while not imperative, would help.
"I think it will get some of you guys [the media] off my back if I have a good, solid week, and that would be a plus," said Mickelson, who added he was kidding.
"I want to get into contention as best I can," he said. "I want to give myself an opportunity to shoot a low score because even though I feel like my game is there, I haven't put the numbers on the board that I need to.
"So I'll be working hard on just getting the ball in the hole and shooting a number this week. Working on specific elements, even though I'll be doing that in practice for Augusta."
And that is what is interesting. Mickelson, 40, does not hide that he very much is preparing for the Masters. The 38-time PGA Tour winner wants to have a good week here, certainly, but you get the feeling that winning is of little concern.
Next week at the Shell Houston Open? Well ...
"Houston is different because he's in a sense playing Houston like he wants to play at Augusta -- which doesn't quite fit," Mackay said. "He wants to hit a lot of drivers that week and he wants to hit the ball hard off the tee. That might not fit quite so well on some of the holes at Houston."
Mickelson went to Augusta National prior to Doral and has another trip scheduled next week before the Houston tournament.
That kind of homework can be a big benefit -- and one of the reasons the Masters typically favors experienced players.
"He's got that little book he keeps his notes in and he keeps adding to that," said Bones, who played with Mickelson when they were at Augusta two weeks ago. "Getting a feel for how the course is playing? Is it playing long? Are the bunkers carryable? Weather is such a huge factor in how the course plays. He's just re-acclimating himself."
Now if he can just get his game to cooperate. Other than that final round at Doral, Mickelson has not been horrible, just not sharp. He's played decent, but not been able to post low scores. On Thursday, a trend continued in which he's shot in the 60s just once in his past 10 stroke-play rounds.
Sort of like last year.
"Well, 2003 was one of the worst I was ever playing going into the [Masters] and I finished third," Mickelson said. "And then last year, I had not had a lot of success early on. But driving up, knew that it was going to be a good week."
Talk about an understatement.
Mickelson's victory was among the top stories in golf for the year, his second shot to the par-5 13th on Sunday one of the best shots. He made back-to-back eagles during the third round to erase a five-stroke deficit to Lee Westwood, then shot a final-round 67 to win by three.
"And I'll say this, he's playing significantly better this year than he was last year," Mackay said. "Last year he had a lesson with Butch [Harmon] on Tuesday that was an incredibly productive hour and a half. It was part of a swing thought and it was a big part of Phil's win."
Mickelson finished the opening round at Bay Hill on Thursday 4 shots behind 18-hole leader Spencer Levin. Lefty is tied for fourth while the likes of Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan are ahead of him on the leaderboard.
Although Mickelson got away with a slam-dunk birdie at his final hole, the par-4 ninth, to give him three birdies and a bogey on the round, he had accomplished his goal of putting himself in contention -- if at least for one round.
"I used the short game to score, and missed it in the proper spots," Mickelson said. "Didn't have any penalty strokes on a golf course that has numerous shots with water. All of those little elements kind of helped me get the ball in the hole and shoot a number without hitting perfect shots."
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
