Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Phil's Tribute to Seve at Champions Dinner




Phil Mickelson will pay a tribute to Seve Ballesteros at Augusta on Tuesday night with a Spanish menu for his champions dinner.

After a gazpacho starter, the assembled winners of the Masters, including Jose Maria Olazabal on his return to the event, will follow with paella, then beef tenderloin with manchego cheese and tortilla.

The desserts on offer include Spanish apple pie and Mickelson's one disappointment is that Ballesteros, still battling brain cancer, has not been able to travel and enjoy the meal.

It was the first of Ballesteros' two Masters wins in 1980 that truly inspired the American.

Just nine at the time, Mickelson said to his mother: "I want to win that tournament. I want to be like that."

Mickelson is now the clear favourite for the green jacket after he burst back to form with closing rounds of 63 and 65 to win the Houston Open.

Following his first victory since pushing Westwood into second place at the Masters last April, Mickelson said: "It feels really good for me to have played well and to gain some momentum heading into next week.

"It feels a lot like '06 (he won in Atlanta the week before capturing his second Masters and second major in a row) in that I needed to have a week where I put it together.

"I've been saying all year I'm playing well, but not getting the scores out of it and having a lapse of focus.

"I've got to continue to work on that. Although all in all, this was one of the best weeks I've had in a long time as far as seeing the shot and being able to hit it.

"I was able to battle back when I did have a couple of those lapses, but I know going into Augusta and the penalties being so severe there that I've got to work on that.

"Each player as an individual golfer has to find out what's best for them to prepare for a big event and I find that I tend to play my best in a major championship when I compete the week before.

"It gets me into competitive frame of mind and I enjoy the challenge in only having three days between competitive rounds.

"There's always a bunch of guys that can win The Masters. It's wide open. There's a lot of players that can do it, but I certainly like the way that I play the golf course and I'm very pleased with the way my game is coming round.

"I certainly have a lot more confidence heading in because the one area that I've been not doing as well as I usually do - visualising a shot, being able to hold that picture throughout the swing and execute - I started to do much better this weekend."