Phil Mickelson is, for lack of a better phrase, not Ben Hogan. But, for lack of a better phrase, Ben Hogan was no Phil Mickelson, either. (I can't exactly envision a scenario where the Hawk would be sitting around swapping stories with a room full of people who claim to look like him while TV cameras rolled.)
But it's a new era in golf and nowhere are those changing times more apparent than watching how Mickelson is attempting to bring the once mighty monster that was Colonial to its knees. He is doing it with an aggressiveness off the tee that is equal parts Hulk Hogan and Stephen Hawking. It is long range ballistic missiles with precision accuracy. It's like Dresden comes to Baghdad before the Green Zone. And it may be redefining how to play venerable Colonial with modern equipment technology.
Mickelson's one-shot lead is impressive stuff, not because he's rising to the occasion at a tournament that he personally (and commercially) is trying to revitalize, but because he's brought a thinking man's approach to the Bomb & Gouge mentality of his younger PGA Tour brethren. Mickelson is beating the band as the tournament sponsor's primary endorsee (I'm not sure how much air time he got on Saturday, but his Q-rating doubled by 5:30), but winning and for all intents and purposes serving as the unofficial host would be an impressive double.
More impressive, though, is the education he's providing to the rest of the golf world, providing they're willing to pay attention. It goes like this: You use all the tools at your disposal to win. That includes changing up your bag by playing five wedges because that's the way to attack the golf course. Too bad, few of his playing competitors have that kind of courage. Or smarts.
Mickelson's program for Colonial includes a 47-, 50-, 55-, 60- and 64-degree wedge. But it works. While it's admirable that the shorter hitting Stephen Ames and Rod Pampling are just a shot back of America's biggest TV star, they are playing a different and, one might argue, inferior and outdated game. They are playing the angles and working the ball around corners. They are laying back short of bunkers. One of them is even playing some holes with a 2-iron off the tee and a 4-iron into the green. Good luck to them. Even Ames was wistful about Colonial under seige Saturday evening.
"There is certain holes where if you fly it 270, 275, yes, the hole
becomes obsolete," said Ames after his well-crafted 64. "You got a lob wedge in there. That's the
unfortunate thing with this golf course. Some holes have become that
way. You can take the trouble out of the way by bombing the driver
over. It's not that kind of golf course where you have to shape it off
the tee and land it in between the traps. That's the unfortunate
thing. Back in the old days it must have been a hell of a golf course,
playing with a Persimmon head. It must have been real fun."
Mickelson meanwhile is using five wedges because that's how you score, and scoring, not finesse and majestic 2-irons, is how you win now on tour.
"My scoring takes place around the greens," Mickelson said in his Saturday post-round press conference, "so I want to have as many
options as possible to tackle the different lies and the different
shots that we encounter in some of these conditions."
When I suggested his approach was unique, the pro of a thousand quips slickly replied, "But who is here talking to you?"
It was a little Hogan-esque, now that I think about it. And since Mickelson has played Colonial some days without a 3-wood and some days without a 6-iron, he may be more like Hogan than we've given him credit for. After all, it was Hogan who once said of leaving a certain club out of his bag at Merion, another venerable layout cowering in the onslaught of a great champion: "there are no 7-iron shots at Merion." For Mickelson, there are plenty of wedge shots at Colonial, and that's why he's carrying five. Does it matter? He's leading and he's playing more aggressively smart than anyone else. His average approach shot is 16 yards shorter than his next two nearest rivals tomorrow. I like his chances. With those odds, you can leave some of the longer clubs at home and add to your short club arsenal. Funny, no one else thought of that. Except maybe Ben Hogan.
Saturday Thoughts on the Phil Mickelson, er Crowne Plaza Invitational
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