Capelle On Golf

While Tiger Woods is away, it’s time for Phil Mickelson to make hay. It’s time to win that elusive fourth major, the one that will elevate him to the four majors club which, in the Modern Era, has only one other member, Ray Floyd. I know, Tiger won’t be playing, but the winner of the year’s last two majors will still enjoy an asterisk free listing in the record books. And if Phil can sweep the British Open and the PGA, he’ll be in the company of the great Seve Ballesteros.

Phil, it’s time to play golf. Not think about it, strategize it, game plan it to death, but to just go out there and play. These sentiments were voiced by Johnny Miller over the weekend of the Open, and I concur. You’ve got a great swing coach in Butch Harmon, and he knows a couple of things about the mental game. After all, he taught you Tiger’s Tricks and you went out and won the Deutsche Bank last year.

But as for that other guy, Dave Pelz, well, he’s got to go. He’s a short game guru who overstepped his boundaries when he started messing with your overall course management. Evidently scientist Pelz’s spreadsheets offered proof that bagging the driver was the smart play at the Open. Pelz, according to Mickelson, “has been wanting me to play a tournament without hitting driver, hitting 3-woods all the way through. So here you are, Dave.”

Driver vs. 3-Wood
My records show that Woods used driver on holes 1, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 15, and 18, eight of the longest holes at Torrey Pines. Mickelson “attacked” these same holes on Thursday and Friday with a 3-wood. The first two days Woods played them in 68 shots to Mickelson’s 73 strokes.

Phil went on to lose by seven shots, five coming the first two days on these 3-Wood vs. Driver holes. Six more came when Mickelson made that ridiculous boomerang nine on the 13th hole Saturday to Woods’ eagle 3.

Second Guessing Mickelson’s Folly
So why did Mickelson try this experiment at the US Open? And did Mickelson really think he was going to outsmart Woods the first two days by fairway and greening him to death? Whatever, it was a dismal failure.

Pelz said, “I don’t know anybody who can hit a driver straighter than a 3-wood.” Maybe not, but this was a 3-wood that was delofted from 13 to 11.5 degrees, making it more like a 2-wood. It was also a new specially made club, which means that it was not battle tested like Mickelson’s driver. In short, he had no confidence building history with the infernal club.

If the gambit had worked, you can bet that Dave “Mr. Self Promotion” Pelz would have jumped front and center to grab the lion’s share of the credit. When it back fired, Dave “Mr. Accountability” Pelz adroitly passed the buck to Phil. “I still think it was the correct decision, but Phil had to make it,” said Pelz, which is to say that if it was such a dumb idea, he could have vetoed it.

Until sometime in early 2009 when the Big Guy returns, Mickelson is the number one active player in the world. Let’s see if he can play like it. It he does, he’ll become a member of the top 10 of the Modern Era.