Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Waking Up in 2010: Can Phil Phinally (Ph)Dominate?


Phil Mickelson is one of the rarest of athletes. He's the one that is better than every single other athlete in his profession in the entire world, except one, which makes him somewhat of a disappointment. Doesn't make sense, right? Keep reading.

Before 2004, he was Philly Gone Bridesmaid, never winning the big tournament but always coming ohsoclose time after time. After he leaped into the major championship class with that birdie at the '04 Masters, we expected floodgates to open, for a reason we now know to be somewhat dimwitted. He won a PGA Championship. He triumphed once again at Augusta National, but some guys can nail the clutch jumper time and time again and some guys clank it off the front of the rim more than they don't.

For all Mickelson's immense talent, he is still the latter of that definition, a guy that you expect to win more big tournaments but see grasping his head after bad decisions, admitting to the masses that he is, in fact, an idiot.

A lot of that changed at the end of '09, when Phil took down Tiger Woods at the Tour Championship with a closing 65, and held the tournament trophy while Woods hoisted the FedEx Cup hardware. After that, Phil won the HSBC Champions and outplayed Tiger at the Presidents Cup, hitting shot after majestic shot close to the pin, winning four matches and raising the simple question, "Has Phil finally figured it out?"

Now, that was then, and this is now, when Woods has been plastered all over every news outlet in the world as a cheat and a liar and a horrible husband and terrible man (their words, not mine). He is taking some time away from the sport he normally dominates, leaving the door open for, among others, Phil Mickelson.

Lefty will turn 40 this summer, and we all know that dominating in this sport, in most cases, starts to decline around this time (Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry might disagree with me). He still has some good years left, but contending in majors after 40 is a stretch.

So .............

Can Phil take advantage of this strange season and dominate? With the tournament locations, it sure seems likely.

First, the Masters will be at Augusta (surprise!), which he has won twice. If someone could tackle this man and convince him to play only the lefty cut, that won him his first Masters, he would probably be the early favorite in Georgia.

After that is Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open, where he has won three times during the annual event at the majestic Monterey Peninsula and finished t-16 in 2000 when Pebble last hosted an Open. It seems that if he goes in playing like he did when the year ended, this wouldn't be a stretch either, considering his past success on the links.

Now comes an interesting thought about the British Open. I long said that Phil could never win a British, just because it couldn't fit his game less, but I've played St. Andrews enough to know one thing. If you are a lefty (raises hand) and commit to moving the ball right to left (a controlled cut that lands soft on the rolling fairways of the Old Course), you have a serious advantage at St. Andrews over the righties that are forced to draw the ball left (you can't miss it right at St. Andrews anywhere), allowing it to run out in areas you don't want to be (see: pot bunkers). Now, saying that, Mickelson has never had much success at St. Andrews, finishing t-40 in 1995, t-11 in 2000 and t-60 in 2005, but if he has some confidence in his game, maybe it would translate. Also, this is me, stretching it.

Oh, and the PGA Championship is at Whistling Straits, a place that last held a major in '04, where Phil finished t-6, and was won by a guy (Singh), who had recently turned 40.

I guess the conclusion is, if Phil really has perfected his short game like some of the gurus are saying, and he can play golf like he did to close out the season, and isn't scared to take down Tiger like he did on the front nine of Augusta in '09, maybe this could be his year instead of Tigers.

All of it, however, comes down to one simple truth -- how sick is Phil of playing that second fiddle? That could be the deciding factor of 2010.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

ninest123 08.01
christian louboutin, coach outlet store online, tory burch outlet, michael kors outlet online, michael kors outlet store, coach outlet, nike air max, christian louboutin, kate spade outlet, coach purses, ray ban sunglasses, longchamp outlet, coach outlet, true religion outlet, nike outlet, michael kors handbags, nike air max, burberry outlet, ralph lauren polo, nike free, prada outlet, gucci handbags, kate spade, ralph lauren outlet, tiffany jewelry, ray ban sunglasses, michael kors, chanel handbags, louboutin shoes, cheap jordans, oakley sunglasses, longchamp outlet, burberry factory outlet, oakley sunglasses, michael kors outlet, louboutin uk, oakley sunglasses, michael kors outlet online, prada handbags, tiffany jewelry, replica watches, longchamp bags

Anonymous said...

michael kors uk, louboutin pas cher, true religion outlet, longchamp pas cher, nike air max pas cher, ray ban uk, lunette oakley pas cher, converse, abercrombie and fitch, abercrombie and fitch UK, hermes pas cher, hollister uk, michael kors outlet online, mulberry uk, nike air max uk, nike roshe run pas cher, longchamp soldes, lululemon outlet, nike blazer pas cher, nike tn pas cher, nike free pas cher, lunette ray ban pas cher, true religion outlet, hogan sito ufficiale, burberry pas cher, nike air max, vans pas cher, nike free, nike air max uk, polo lacoste pas cher, north face uk, new balance, nike air force, true religion jeans, jordan pas cher, ralph lauren pas cher, michael kors, vanessa bruno pas cher, timberland pas cher, polo ralph lauren uk, north face pas cher, sac guess pas cher

Anonymous said...

salvatore ferragamo, hermes handbags, soccer shoes, iphone 6 cases, nfl jerseys, bottega veneta, insanity workout, longchamp uk, soccer jerseys, instyler ionic styler, celine handbags, asics running shoes, chi flat iron, mcm handbags, jimmy choo outlet, herve leger, oakley, valentino shoes, babyliss pro, p90x workout, nike roshe run, north face outlet, nike air max, mac cosmetics, lululemon outlet, ghd hair, softball bats, reebok outlet, hollister clothing, north face outlet, nike roshe uk, nike air huarache, new balance shoes, abercrombie, vans outlet, mont blanc, abercrombie and fitch, timberland boots, beats by dre, giuseppe zanotti, wedding dresses, nike trainers uk

Anonymous said...

nike air max, bottes ugg pas cher, uggs on sale, montre pas cher, uggs outlet, gucci, uggs outlet, lancel, replica watches, uggs on sale, vans scarpe, hollister, thomas sabo uk, coach outlet, ray ban, toms shoes, louboutin, karen millen uk, links of london uk, converse, supra shoes, swarovski jewelry, juicy couture outlet, uggs on sale, wedding dresses uk, hollister, ugg,ugg australia,ugg italia, polo ralph lauren, converse shoes outlet, pandora jewelry, ugg uk, pandora charms, juicy couture outlet, ugg pas cher, pandora uk, marc jacobs, ugg,uggs,uggs canada, swarovski uk
ninest123 08.01