Great Expectations

Phil Mickelson is usually good about responding to text messages, and that was the case Jan. 5, when he replied to an interview request for this story. But this answer was different. There was no back and forth, no acknowledgement of the holidays, none of the usual banter, just a dodge: "In hibernation. Checked out 'til 23rd."

That day would be the Saturday before the Farmers Insurance Open, when Mickelson would visit with Dave Stockton at The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. It would be one of the final tuneups for the world's second-ranked player before his return to the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines five days later. That's when Mickelson would flip the switch, illuminating a public spotlight that had dimmed since he won the WGC-HSBC Champions in China in November. It would be the beginning of an extensive West Coast swing for Mickelson, who hopes to celebrate not just his 40th birthday (June 16), but also his 40th tour win (he has 37) in 2010.

Flush with confidence thanks to Stockton's work on his short game, Mickelson is anxious to return. "It's the most juiced to play I've ever seen Phil," says Butch Harmon. "First of all, he couldn't have finished [2009] any better. He won his last two [starts] against great fields, and he could have won the first two majors if he made a putt here and there. He's so hyped-up that I'm a little worried. He's sitting on 'G,' waiting on 'O.' ''

When the curtain went down on the 2009 season, Mickelson had very clearly sent a message he was ready for '10. In two head-to-head battles to close out the year, Mickelson blew by Tiger Woods with a 66-65 weekend at the Tour Championship and held him off -- along with a late-faltering Ernie Els -- in China. That win was Mickelson's first while paired with Woods in the last group. "High expectations" were the words Mickelson used for the upcoming season.

The Woods scandal tempered but couldn't dampen Mickelson's enthusiasm. Their rivalry won't resume at Torrey Pines, where either Woods or Mickelson has won eight of the last 11 years, because Woods remains on hiatus. "I appreciate all Tiger has done for the PGA Tour and myself and Amy," said Mickelson, who, true to his word, answered questions on Jan. 23. "I think a lot of Tiger and Elin, and hope [they are] able to get on with their lives together. I hope Tiger can come back and be a part of the PGA Tour soon."

Totally overlooked now in the heightened anticipation of Mickelson's return is that he wouldn't be in this frame of mind had his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, who were diagnosed with breast cancer within six weeks last year, not been treated successfully and given good prognoses. "I've had a great off-season, a great few months to be with Amy and the kids," Mickelson said. "I expect [2010] to be one of the best years I've had. In the last three years with Butch, I've taken a weakness, which is driving, and turned it into a strength. I'm driving it longer and straighter than I've ever hit it. That sets up the entire golf course for me. Now [I'm] starting to capitalize on it with my putter, and scores are starting to reflect it."

Already believing poor putting cost him the Masters and the U.S. Open, Mickelson's frustration was exacerbated by playoff showings in New York, Boston and Chicago, which, cumulatively, left him open to suggestions. Fortunately, caddie Jim (Bones) Mackay had one: Call Stockton. "My take on Stockton was that he used a forward press, he putted like an old-school putter, made a big name for himself in the game as a putter, and I always heard he was a down-to-earth guy," says Mackay. Not knowing where Stockton lived, but that like Phil, he was a Southern California resident, Mackay found the number.

Conveniently, Stockton was five miles away from Mickelson's home when the call was placed, working with Yani Tseng at Torrey Pines during the LPGA's Samsung World Championship.

Extremely loyal -- as evidenced by the way he agonized about leaving Rick Smith for Harmon in 2007 -- Mickelson had a hard time choosing Stockton over his long-time short-game coach Dave Pelz. But after a T-30 at the BMW Championship, it was time to make a change.

"In the [first] conversation over the phone, he said he was 'lost,' " Stockton says. "That was his opening salvo to me."

For some members of Mickelson's camp, the call to Stockton was long overdue. The consensus is that while Pelz's statistical breakdowns were good for Phil's anaytical mind, the overall result was too much clutter -- and fatal decisions like not using his driver during the first two rounds of the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, the longest course in Open history.

Mickelson and Stockton spent two days together at The Bridges last September. Stockton widened Mickelson's stance and got him to look at the hole while he was going into his pre-shot routine. He also had Mickelson return to triggering his stroke with a forward press, which he used in his youth. "One of the things that always confused me a little bit is that Phil always putted open and closed [with the blade]," says Pete Coe, the head pro at La Jolla CC and a friend of Phil's since he was a teenager. "The way he putted with Dave Pelz was more of a straight-back-and-through motion. I always felt it was quite contrary to what Phil had done naturally, and to what Dave Stockton has done. It took Stockton to get through the stubborn part of Phil's head."

Four days later in Atlanta, prior to the Tour Championship, Mackay went to dinner with Steve Loy, Mickelson's long-time manager. Loy, who has been through the highs and lows of Mickelson's career since coaching him at Arizona State, was ecstatic as they drove to the restaurant. "He could not believe how good Phil was putting," Mackay says. "That has always been the amazing thing about Phil. He puts things into play very, very quickly whether it's swing or short game."

For the year, Mickelson had made only 13 putts longer than 20 feet. In four rounds at East Lake, he made six from beyond that distance, finished first in putts per GIR and won by three strokes over Woods. Returning from his post-round TV interview with NBC, Mickelson walked past Mackay and, without breaking stride, said loud enough for all the reporters to hear, "Best call you ever made."

After winning at East Lake, Mickelson explained why the Stockton technique resonated with him. "How many times have I heard 'You forward press too much?'" he asked. "[Stockton said] 'Nobody will putt as well as you and I with our hands like that because we're leading with the back of our hand. Other guys can putt other ways, but this is the best way to putt.' Once he said that, I said, 'Yeah, that's right.' I've always believed that. So I went back to it, and it has been a night-and-day difference for me."

It was clear not only in his gait but his execution that Mickelson had been transformed. "It made him look at the golf course differently, so he didn't have to try so many phenomenal shots and go at dumb pins," says Stockton. "When we worked the first time, I realized he was very open, very analytical and he picks things up so quick."