Mickelsen primed for Woods and Oakmont challenge

Now the 15-2 second favourite to land America's most prestigious title - Tiger Woods is 9-4 favourite - Mickelson was also restored yesterday to the No2 spot in the world rankings behind his old nemesis.

Looked self-contained, focused and in control of his swing over a closing 18 holes at the Players which enabled the left-hander to produce the kind of "stress-free" golf which invariably wins the most coveted titles, Mickelson is already looking forward to the US Open. "I think if I keep working at these things and progressing, I should be ready to take on the ultimate tough challenge at Oakmont," he said.

Some 11 months after desperate driving at Winged Foot cost him a wonderful opportunity on the 72nd hole to grasp his third major victory in a row, Mickelson will take another tilt at America's national championship knowing his work with coach Butch Harmon has already exorcised some of the glitches which cost him so dear last summer. "I can't wait for Oakmont," he confessed, "because that's the tournament where I want to make a statement that last year didn't affect me. I want a victory."

Since parting company with long-term teacher Rick Smith, Mickelson has finished third, third and first at the three tournament where he's put Harmon's ideas into practice. Striving to build a more compact action based on a shorter backswing, Mickelson found 16 out of 18 greens in regulation on Sunday, missed only four fairways and carded just one bogey on the weekend over his closing 27 holes.

It said much about the added importance of being able to chip with imagination and feel on a re-vamped course at Sawgrass that Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal were among Mickelson's closest pursuers. That said it undoubtedly gave the three-time major winner, on the occasion of his 31st victory, added satisfaction that he was able to make life easy for himself during the final round by keeping the ball in play off the tee.

"What I'd like to do is have four days of ball-striking like the final round and then it takes a lot of pressure off my short game," observed the golfer who coasted to victory in spite of using his putter 31 times in carding 69 for the winning total of 11 under par.

"I could have run it high if I would have made some reasonable putts. But I will gladly take the way the round went because it was a stress-free type of round.

"It wasn't a hit or miss. It's steadily gotten better the more time I've put into it. This was a great week to have the chance to spend each day with Butch, six days straight, to work on my game, to work on these changes, and consequently as the week wore on, I started to hit it better and better."

Although he doesn't expect Mickelson to challenge Woods, one of his former pupils, for the world No1 spot this season, Harmon does believe in the longer run that his new protg can establish a gripping rivalry.

"It's going to be very difficult to challenge Tiger Woods this year for No1 because Tiger has such a big lead in the points," observed the coach. "But Phil has the talent and the desire and has finally realised that he had to make changes. I think he has a very good chance of catching Tiger in the next couple of years."

While many observers argued for years that Mickelson would only get closer to Woods if he shortened his swing and became a more stable driver of the ball, the golfer revealed it wasn't until a poor performance at last month's Masters that he took the decision to part company with Smith.

"I felt I hadn't hit it well since the Masters in 2006," he admitted. "When I got to Augusta and wasn't able to hit it well again after a year, I felt I needed to try something different."

In fairness if that closing round of 77, which saw him finish in 24th place at Augusta, pushed Mickelson over the edge, he'd been talking to Harmon for weeks beforehand and deep down knew a change was overdue. In preparation for Oakmont, Mickelson is considering teeing-up at the Stanford St Jude championship the week before, which, if it works out well, should be a good omen for him returning to Loch Lomond before the Open.

Even for those of us watching Setanta's coverage of the Players on TV, this was a far more engaging tournament than the recent staging of the Masters. Perhaps the one spanner in the works, as the TPC pursues major status, is a dearth of history.

The Masters, mark you, wasn't a major when it started in 1934. Events, including Gene Sarazen's "shot heard around the world" (the 4 wood he holed for albatross at the 15th) added lustre to Bobby Jones' tournament. In time, the Players, which was first contested in 1974, will have its own folklore. In the meantime, adding Mickelson's name to the roll of honour at Sawgrass does no harm.