Why does Phil Mickelson so often play second fiddle to Tiger Woods? Look no
further than Lefty's reckless gamble at Bay Hill
Courtesy of NBC
By Gary
Smith
One of GOLF MAGAZINE's Top 100 Teachers
PHIL MICKELSON is an amazing talent who has 20 Tour
victories and the No. 2 spot in the World Ranking, but a pair of nagging
questions persist: What accounts for the gap between him and the top-ranked
Tiger Woods, and why hasn't Mickelson won a major? The answer to both questions
is the same, as was abundantly clear at Bay Hill on Sunday. Mickelson needs to
learn what Hal Sutton, a former pupil of mine, told me is the key to success on
Tour: "You've got to know when to put your foot on the gas and when to put
it on the brake." Too often, Mickelson has the pedal to the metal, and
we're not talking about the brake. At the par-5 16th hole he hooked his drive
into the trees and caught a lie amid twigs and leaves. One stroke behind Woods
at the time, Mickelson should have played out toward the fairway, leaving
himself a 150- to 200-yard third shot and a chance at birdie. Instead he went
for broke, attempting a low-rising slicey-hooky to a green
fronted by water and framed by O.B. The predictable result: Mickelson's ball
flew into the water, and he bogeyed the hole -- plus 17 and 18 -- and fell
into a tie for
third.
HOME COOKING A favorite equation for success on Tour is Potential minus
Interference equals Performance. Woods has unlimited potential as a golfer, but
even by his lofty standards he performs unusually well in hometown events. He
has won three consecutive starts at Bay Hill and two of six appearances at the
Disney because being in Orlando allows him to avoid most of the interference he
encounters on the road. Bay Hill is a couple of miles from Isleworth, where
Woods lives. Instead of having to dodge paparazzi and glad-hand hotel bellmen,
Tiger gets to sleep in his own bed and work out in his home gym. Rather than
being reduced to room service, Woods can dine at one of his favorite
restaurants, Morton's Steakhouse (where he was spotted on Sunday night), or
invite himself to dinner at neighbor Mark O'Meara's house. Best of all, Woods
can avoid the frenzied driving range at Bay Hill, cruising from his house to the
adjacent Isleworth practice area in a golf cart equipped with a stereo and seven
speakers.
IN YOUR FACE I'm often put in delicate interview situations, like the one
involving Mickelson and his stunning decision at 16. These Q and A's can be as
challenging for TV reporters as they are for golfers because the players are
still juiced up when they step off the course. Being honest and concise usually
elicits a poignant response, like Mickelson's when asked about his mind-set at
16. "The only shot I had was at the green," he said. That wasn't
exactly accurate, but it revealed a larger truth about Mickelson: The only way
he's going to stop beating himself down the stretch is to occasionally be less
aggressive and play the percentages.
Gary Smith is a golf commentator for ABC and one of Golf
Magazine's Top 100
Teachers.
Courtesy of NBC
