Defending champ Phil Mickelson looking forward to The Players Championship

From WorldGolf.com News Services

Phil Mickelson admits that his feelings about competing in The Players Championship have changed. Then again, winning a tournament tends to change a person's point of view.

Mickelson is back to defend his title at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass as the tournament regarded by many as golf's fifth major tees off today in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. While the world No. 2-ranked player said he hadn't always played as well as he would've liked in The Players, changes to the course after the 2006 tournament have increased his zeal for the event.

"It makes a big difference for me because in the past short game was not as integral an element in this tournament because the rough around the greens was so difficult that it was the same for everybody," Mickelson told reporters. "Now, there are so many mowed-out areas that you can chip, you can putt, you can lob it. It's a tough challenge around the greens, but skill is a big part of it.

"I look forward to this tournament every year now because my chances of being in contention and my chances of winning have gone up greatly."

Historically, past champions haven't fared tremendously well in their title defense. No defending champ has placed higher than a tie for fifth, and just six of the past 34 winners have finished in the top 10 the year after winning.

Perhaps part of the reason defending champions haven't had overwhelming success is the overall strength of the field, which unlike many of the major tournaments scarcely includes a single player who isn't capable of winning the PGA Tour's top single-tournament prize of $1.7 million. Even without Tiger Woods in action after his recent knee surgery, the 144-man field includes 101 players who have combined for 414 PGA Tour victories, including 25 majors.

Mickelson said he's enjoyed his return to TPC Sawgrass this week, although he said he was taken aback a little when fans started asking him to autograph tickets that feature his likeness printed on them.

"It's awkward to see your mug on tickets, but it's cool and I certainly have always enjoyed this tournament," Mickelson said. "I think that now there's an emotional tie for me with this tournament having won last year, and I look forward to coming back."

Mickelson is arguably the tournament's biggest drawing card with Woods out of commission. As Mickelson said last week prior to the start of the Wachovia Championship, Woods will certainly be missed.

"When he's in the field, certainly that's the first thing you look at on the leaderboard, is what did Tiger shoot, where does he stand on the leaderboard?" Mickelson said. "That's going to obviously be different when he's not in the field."

Jim Furyk said he tries to take the same approach, regardless of the competition.

"I'm thinking about what the golf course plays like, what am I going to have to do to get my game in shape to play this golf course?" Furyk told reporters. "That's kind of the same every week.

"So [Woods'] absence, him being here or not being here, doesn't really affect the rest of us or how we prepare, but it affects on a broader scale, television, how our viewers, how our fans look at the golf tournament because they want to see Tiger in the field."

While the course conditions at The Players might not rival the U.S. Open in terms of difficulty, Mickelson said the days of the winning score being 24 under par — Greg Norman's winning score in 1994 — are probably gone forever.

"I don't think it'll be anywhere near as low as it was last year," said Mickelson, who finished at 11-under 277 for a two-shot victory over Sergio Garcia. "The greens are faster and firmer and because of that, the greens being so small, they're tough to hit."

The Players Championship

SCHEDULE: Thursday-Sunday
SITE: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
COURSE: TPC Sawgrass, Players Stadium Course (7,215 yards, par 72)
PURSE: $9.5 million (winner's share: $1.71 million)
FEDEX CUP POINTS: 27,500 (winner's share: 4,950)
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m., 9 p.m.-midnight EDT) and NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 2-7 p.m. EDT).

May 8, 2008