|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Mickel for your Masters' thoughts
This is the time of year when I find myself growing envious of Dr. Z. Ah, for the halcyon life of the pigskin prognosticator, whose every kernel of wisdom comes with a 50 percent chance of being upheld. Picking a Masters victor, on the other hand, is a one-in-a-hundred proposition. Luckily, I don't have to agonize over my choice this time around, as I already made it in this space a few weeks ago. Yes, Phil Mickelson is going to win the Masters. I grow more certain of it with each passing day, because I have to. His strong performance this past week at the BellSouth was a great sign. In the inexact science of picking tournament winners there are, in my mind, only three things that matter: the player's track record in the event, his current form, and his style of play. Mickelson checks out on all three fronts. His record at the Masters is superb: Over the last six years he has finished seventh or better four times, and -- get this -- his career scoring average at Augusta National is a sporty 71.67, which is bettered by only by Fred Couples in tournament history (minimum 25 rounds). Last year Mickelson finished in a tie for seventh despite taking 125 putts, his highest total in eight career appearances at Augusta. If he rolls his rock, look out.
We all know Mickelson has been playing superb, if occasionally uneven, golf this year. To me the most important round he's played all season was his flawless 66 on Sunday at Bay Hill, when he almost trumped Tiger for the fourth time in 14 months. What was huge about that round was not the birdie-binge pyrotechnics -- we've come to expect that -- but the absence of physical and, especially, mental errors. Mickelson's biggest problem is staying patient and not forcing reckless attempts at making birdies, and this perennial test of will is most acute at Augusta. I remember talking to him the week after the 1998 Masters -- you may recall Mickelson played in the second-to-last group that Sunday. He was cruising along during the final round, four back of the lead through 11, with two easily reachable par-5s still up ahead, plus the 17th, which back then was the easiest hole on the course (new trees have pinched the fairway and made it a bit dicier). I was hanging out at Amen Corner that day, and Mickelson proceeded to play one of the most boneheaded shots I have ever seen, trying to fade his tee ball at the pin on 12, the one hole in golf where you never go for the flag. Of course, it hit on the bank and rolled into Rae's Creek, ending his chances at victory. A couple days later, at Hilton Head, I asked him about that shot, and he said something to the effect of, "Well, I thought I had done a good job staying patient for 11 holes and I thought it was time to start making birdies." All I could think was, Hello. Is anybody home? You don't start making birdies on the 12th hole at Augusta National, especially on Sunday. Anyway, it has taken a long time, but Mickelson has finally learned you have to stay patient for all 18 holes if you want to win a major championship. As for the course itself, it couldn't be set up more perfectly for his game. They always say you have to draw the ball to play well at the National -- or hit a left-handed power fade. With his much ballyhooed new ball, Mickelson is as long as any top player in golf, non-Tiger Division, and even with the new whiskers that have encroached on the fairways, no course in golf demands so many talent shots, or so much imagination. Did you see the chipping display Phil Mick put on during the second round in Atlanta this past week? There's plenty more where that came from. So I'm happy to present to you, the 2001 Masters champion, Phil Mickelson. As for the rest of your office pool answer key... 2. Woods. Make no mistake, the kid will be around the lead. I just don't get the feeling this is his week, as his game is not quite there, despite that little two-tournament winning streak. He was lucky to win at Bay Hill, and even at the Players Championship he drowned a ball in each of the first two rounds. 3. Dennis Paulson. Cocky enough not to care that this is the Masters, the Chief has the 'tude and the bomber's game to make a run at the championship. Last year in his first spin around the National, he took the opening-round lead with a 68 and went on to finish a solid 14th. He also finished 11th at the British Open at the Old Course, the prototype for Augusta National. One drawback: his Orange Strata hat clashes with the green jacket. 4. Vijay Singh. Contrary to popular belief, Singh didn't putt great during last year's victory, he merely putted pretty well. His 122 putts were the most by a Masters champ since 1990. Since then both his stroke and confidence on the greens have improved. With four straight top-four finishes on Tour, plus two victories in Asia, this preeminent ballstriker is as hot as anybody in the game. Expect a stout defense. 5. Jose Maria Olazabal. Nobody plays Augusta National better than this On Tour favorite -- two wins, nine career top-10s, and a career scoring average of 71.74. Just as significantly, he finished 12th at the Players Championship, a brutally difficult driving course. 6. Davis Love III. His recent record at the Masters is tremendous -- two seconds, three sevenths since 1995. He's never driven it better and his putting finally came around on the West Coast. Alas, Love has never looked softer than when he blew that three-stroke lead in L.A., the second consecutive 54-hole lead he let get away. The Masters is usually a Sunday dogfight, and I don't think DL3 has the fangs. 7. Nick Price. He gets the yips on Sunday, which precludes anything but a runaway victory, but this 44-year-old warrior always gets it up for Augusta -- sixth in '99, 11th last year, and he still shares the course record, at 63. Plus, he's been playing great lately, with a 10th at the Players and only two rounds over par all season. 8. Jim Furyk. 2000 was the first season since '95 he didn't have a top-10 in a major, but after having gotten married in the offseason, he seems to have the passion back. With stout comebacks at Doral last year and the Mercedes in 2001, he's also learning how to close the deal. 9. Brad Faxon. Formally a one-joke movie, the Hawaiian Open champ's much improved long-game has him up to 13th in scoring average and 33rd in Guns N' Roses (Greens in Regulation). At the Masters -- or, as Johnny Miller used to call it, the Augusta National Spring Putting Contest -- Faxon has stroked his way to top-26 finishes seven of the last eight years. However, he has never gotten enough cheap birdies on the par-5s to really contend. Now that he's 20 yards longer off the tee, and striking his irons with far more authority, look for him to be a major factor. 10. Thomas Bjorn. The brooding prince of Danish golf has made huge strides over the last year -- second at the British Open, third at the PGA, a Tiger scalping in Dubai. He is one of the two or three best long-iron players in the game; the only variable in his game is a very streaky putter. He wants a major, badly, so expect him to will plenty of putts into the cup. Sleepers1. Carlos Franco. Hasn't cracked an egg all year, but this ultimate feel player was sixth and seventh the past two Masters, his only appearances. 2. Tom Lehman. His wedge game is better than ever, but he's still not dynamic enough around the greens to bail himself out if he's not hitting it great, which he has been doing most of the year (three top-10s and a 12th at the Players). After a T3 and a second in the 1993 and '94 Masters, he finally reappeared last year, with a solid sixth. 3. Padraig Harrington. Retooled his swing a couple of years ago to be able to stop the ball on the brick-hard major championship greens, and all the hard work began to pay off with a fifth-place finish at the 2000 U.S. Open. Bonus points: Harrington is one of the best chippers in golf, and a feisty competitor determined to make a splash on a larger stage. Sports Illustrated senior writer Alan Shipnuck periodically waxes about life
On Tour for CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a
question or a nice, friendly comment.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
