Mickelson to defend title, Love III returns to action in AT&T Pebble Beach

From WorldGolf.com News Services

Three-time champion Phil Mickelson believes the secret to his success in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has little to do with how his game suits the golf course.

Instead, Mickelson said he thinks it's his laid-back approach that has made him successful at Pebble Beach, Calif. With rounds in the pro-am format often taking longer than normal on the PGA Tour, Mickelson said he simply tries to enjoy the day and his playing partners.

"They're five-and-a-half-, six-hour rounds, and sometimes guys try to fight that," Mickelson told reporters Wednesday. "They try to speed up and whatnot. I don't do that. I actually really enjoy the extra time to spend with my playing partners to get to know them, ask them about their business, and I learn a lot this week.

"When we have waits on tee boxes, I try to interact with some of the other amateurs from the groups ahead, behind us, and use it as an opportunity to enjoy the day, rather than try to force the round to go faster."

Last year, Mickelson won this event by five strokes, finishing with a 6-under-par 66 in the final round to equal the tournament record of 20-under 268 set by Mark O'Meara in 1997. Mickelson also won here in 1998 and 2005.

"Once I accepted that and enjoyed the day and took advantage of the opportunity to learn about other businesses and cultures, it became a great experience," Mickelson told the media. "It carried over into my play because I was having fun and I felt good and the day went well."

Despite last weekend's disappointing loss in a playoff to J.B. Holmes at the FBR Open, Mickelson has gotten off to a solid start this season. In two starts, the world No. 2-ranked player has two top-six finishes and ranks ninth in the FedEx Cup standings with 3,569 points.

Not bad, considering a respiratory illness slowed Mickelson's preparation for the 2008 season.

"I think that when I entered the year, I knew that I was a week or two behind schedule," Mickelson said. "I had been sick, I hadn't been able to practice and I was rusty. But I was able to come out and finish sixth, which I thought was a good performance because I improved every day.

"Last week was close. I felt like I hit a lot of shots that were good enough to win the tournament, but I hit a lot of shots that cost me the tournament — whether it was a four-putt on [hole] nine or a couple of tee shots in the water."

Davis Love III will be making his 2008 debut in the tournament. Love's first start is about a month and a half ahead of schedule after he had surgery Oct. 2 to repair torn ligaments in his ankle.

"I'm excited to play," Love told reporters. "[Tuesday], playing a practice round at Pebble was a major accomplishment. It was probably the most fun practice round I've played in a long, long time — to be back out on tour and playing a PGA Tour golf course.

"This place has been really good to me and obviously it's been really good to play at Pebble Beach and in this tournament, so I'm excited to be here to say the least."

Like Mickelson, Love has won the tournament three times.

"I feel great, ready to go and really my ankle is not going to be an issue," Love said. "There will be some excitement issues and there will be some rust issues I'm sure that will pop up, but maybe I can use those to my advantage and make a good week out of it."

Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

SCHEDULE: Thursday-Sunday
SITE: Pebble Beach, Calif.
COURSES: Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,816 yards, par 72), Spyglass Hill Golf Course (6,833 yards, par 72) and Poppy Hills Golf Course (6,953 yards, par 72)
PURSE: $6 million (winner's share: $1.08 million)
FEDEX CUP POINTS: 25,000 (winner's share: 4,500)
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday, 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m. EST; Friday, 12:30-3:30 a.m., 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m. EST; Saturday, 12:30-3:30 a.m. EST) and CBS (Saturday, 3-6 p.m. EST; Sunday, 3-6:30 p.m. EST)

February 7, 2008