Pre-Majors Site Practice: Should It Be Controlled?

[tongzilla]

Q. Obviously you're revolutionizing preparation for these events by coming to venues much earlier than obviously everyone else is. Is this going to be a constant for the other majors, because obviously it's working very well here? And second, do you learn from that to use a different club, pull one club from your bag, put another one in? How often have you used that this week?

PHIL MICKELSON: It's going to be a constant for me because it's helping me play better. I don't know about other players, but for me it's been working well. It also gives me a chance, as you mentioned, to get my club setup optimum for the golf course, and I put a wedge in that Roger Cleveland over at Callaway helped me design after I made my first trip here. I called him up from Winged Foot and said, "Roger, I need you to design a 64 degree wedge. I need it with a certain amount of bounce, I've got to hit a lot of high bunker shots out of the sand."

I have used that club extensively, the only club I've used out of the sand, I think, and it has saved me a ton of shots.

The first week I put it in the bag was at Memorial because I wanted to get a little taste for that club, and I hit the shot on 10 where it was replayed where it was a flop shot that went in the hole. Then I used it out of the bunker on 16 out of that plugged lie that flew up and rolled in.

The shot today on 10, I couldn't have done with my L wedge, I had to use the 64. I've used it a ton around the greens, and that one club, if I'm able to be successful tomorrow, that one club has saved me a lot of shots, more than one or two a round possibly. If I'm able to be successful, I will give credit to that one particular club for being the little extra edge.