With finishes of first, second and third in the three majors, Phil Mickelson
can already put 2004 down as a great year in his career.
But at the start of the United States PGA Championship, the fourth and final major
of the season, Mickelson knows it could have been a phenomenal one.
The Masters champion lost the United States Open to Retief Goosen by two
strokes, double-bogeying the 71st hole, and in the Open at Royal Troon last
month he missed out on joining Todd Hamilton and Ernie Els in the play-off by
just one.
"I am three shots away from having a shot at the Grand Slam - certainly I
think about that," said Mickelson.
"But I don't dwell on it. What I try to do is think about what I can do to
make up for those three shots.
"I would also like to maybe make up a couple of shots even at Augusta, so I
don't have to make birdie on the 18th on the last hole for the win.
"I am constantly thinking about how to salvage a half a shot here or there or
even a quarter of a shot. If I can improve my 72-hole total by three or four it
would be a world of difference.
"I have been able to do it well this year - but had I been able to do it just
a little bit better it could have been an incredible year."
After 17 top-10 finishes in the majors without a win, Mickelson's Masters came
as a wonderful relief. But he has always viewed it as a starting point in how he
will be remembered, not the pinnacle.
He wants lots of major victories, in other words, and since the last 10 have
been won by 10 different players just to break that stretch would lift him
another level.
The Ryder Cup is still to come this year, and that gives him another chance to
put the icing on the cake.
There is every chance he will. After losing a vital singles to Phillip Price
last time Mickelson could well be fired up to be a star, if not the star, of the
show at Oakland Hills next month.
On his debut in 1995 Mickelson played only three games but won them all; at
Valderrama two years later he lost only the opening fourballs. Yet Europe won
both times, as they did at The Belfry.
Although the cup was regained in Boston in 1999 the left-hander won twice and
lost twice. As with Tiger Woods, as things stand he will not be remembered for
what he has done in the Ryder Cup - and he would love to change that.
USPGA NEWS
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