Phil Mickelson and Jim "Bones" McKay
“I didn’t finish the year last year the way I wanted to, and I wanted to try to make 2011 the year that I thought 2010 was going to be,” the reigning Masters champ said Wednesday after playing in the pro-am at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Mickelson was so excited for the season to begin, he started preparing for 2011 a week earlier than he normally does. He made his first trip to Abu Dhabi last week, tying for 37th, and then flew halfway around the world to compete in his 22nd PGA TOUR event at Torrey Pines.
The Farmers Insurance Open is the first of four straight weeks on TOUR for Mickelson, who is part of the Featured Group for Thursday with Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose. Depending on his family’s schedule during a school break, Mickelson may add the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship to make it five straight.
“I’m excited about the year, so I want to play,” said Mickelson, who only won once in 2010. “I love the West Coast events. … I want to play the (Accenture) Match Play (Championship). I love Tucson and I love that tournament, and I very well may, but it will just be dependent on some other issues.”
Mickelson said he feels comfortable with the state of his game right now. One slight change — he’s playing Callaway’s new RAZR X irons and woods, but he said the clubs are very similar to the ones he used last year.
"What I have felt heading into this year is that I’m 40 years old and I’ve been playing this game a long time, and I no longer need to go about changes in my game," Mickelson said. "… It’s a year of refinement. Developing touch, developing shot making and getting into the nuances of hitting great shots and not having to worry about technique, and it’s a good feeling."
Mickelson doesn’t expect his health to be an issue in 2011, either. As was reported last week, he has decided to add protein – read, red meat – back into his diet. He felt that he had lost some strength during a five-month experiment as a vegetarian to counteract the effects of psoriatic arthritis.
"What I found is that if I eat a little bit of light protein and a lot of green vegetables, my body feels great," Mickelson said. "I’ve been able to gain that strength back and recuperate the abilities in the gym and so forth that I was able to do before all of this."
Mickelson also said his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, are doing very well. Both have been battling breast cancer for just under two years now and the long-term prognosis remains extremely positive. In fact, Amy’s health was so good that the two were able to celebrate their anniversary with a trip to Egypt in December.
"It’s been a dream of Amy’s to go see the pyramids and go to Egypt ever since I’ve met her," Mickelson said. "Now that we’re in a much better place, I thought it would be a good time to do that.
“We go on an anniversary trip every year. It’s kind of our little thing where we alternate years. I plan a year for her and she plans a year for me. This year was my year to do a trip for her, and that’s kind of what I came up with."
The entire family was with Mickelson in Abu Dhabi. While Phil competed, Amy and their three kids took some educational sightseeing trips — including a trip to Jordan to see Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world. They toured a $165 billion mosque and even went skiing indoors.
"The Emirates Palace where we stayed was off the charts of the experience to see the marvel and opulence of that place," Mickelson said. "It was very educational, especially for Amy and I, who were in North Africa and Egypt only a month ago. To see the difference between Egypt and Abu Dhabi, the difference in poverty and wealth and opulence, I thought was pretty fascinating."
Now, though, it’s back to business. And despite some lingering jet lag, Mickelson couldn’t be more energized for his hometown event.
"I remember on the ninth tee, for whatever reason, on the North Course standing with my dad and watching some of the pros go by and tee off on that par-5 thinking this was a dream of mine to be inside the ropes and compete in this tournament and play the TOUR," Mickelson said.
"I’ve been coming back here now the last 18 years as a pro, and I think I’ve played it a couple more times than that. Every time I come back and play here I remember that it was my childhood dream to play the TOUR and be inside the ropes here. It’s a cool feeling to be doing it."
Helen Ross
