Mickelson uses the force in his quest for greatness

TEN days before the start of the US Masters, Phil Mickelson went to Augusta National Golf Club to practise. He had two coaches with him, the taller Dave Pelz and the shorter Rick Smith, a kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda tandem to Mickelson's Luke Skywalker.
The threesome - as they have now done on three occasions - created the strategy that helped Mickelson win a major championship, a two-shot victory on Sunday at the Masters that seemed to portend more of the same.
"I couldn't have done this by myself," Mickelson said after winning his second green jacket. "To have the help from Dave Pelz and Rick Smith, it has really given me the guidance. When I do spend time practising, I'm spending it on the right things to help me prepare my best and play my best."
For someone once viewed as a talented player who tinkered too much with his game and took too many chances, Mickelson has confirmed his status as one of the best players of the era, even if he still has a little mad scientist in him.
When he came to the BellSouth Classic near Atlanta the week before the Masters, his decision to carry two drivers - each imparting different ball flights - seemed to be part harebrained scheme and part marketing ploy. Then he won the tournament by 13 strokes.
When Mickelson followed with his second Masters title in three years, he had the look of a golfer in perfect rhythm. Pelz had helped Mickelson with his short game, and Smith his long game. Mickelson's decision to choose drivers according to the shape and length of a hole seemed inspired.
"Last week, what he did was incredible," Fred Couples said of Mickelson's margin of victory at the BellSouth Classic. "Then coming in here to shoot the scores that he did, extremely consistent on a very tough course. He's a much better player than he was when he first started winning these majors."
Mickelson could get better. Although great things have been predicted for Tiger Woods in his 30s, Mickelson has already become the epitome of golf maturation in that decade. He had no majors in his 20s but, at 35, he has three.
Mickelson has 29 PGA Tour victories, joining Lee Trevino, Gene Littler and Paul Runyan (Woods has 48). With the Masters victory, he moved from the fourth-ranked player in the world to No.2, behind Woods and ahead of Vijay Singh.
Mickelson was asked if he was ready to embrace talk of either winning four majors in one year - the grand slam - or winning four in a row after his two straight at the PGA Championship last year and the Masters. Woods was the last player to win four in a row, accomplishing it in 2000-01, and Bobby Jones won the grand slam in 1930. "Let's settle down grand slam talk and stuff," Mickelson said. "To hold the Tiger Slam, all four majors? Incredible. That's just one of the most incredible feats in the game, that, and Bobby Jones's grand slam."
Mickelson said he would start preparing immediately for the next major championship - the US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in June - but he left a discussion of his place in golf history to others.
After the PGA Championship, Smith described how several players had won a single major, and that Mickelson had reached a new plateau. Mickelson's latest title brings him to another level, closer to Woods, who has 10 majors, and tying him with Singh and Ernie Els. "As much as I want to be a part of the history of the tournament and a part of the history of the great game of golf, it's not something I dwell on," Mickelson said. "I just try to play well and compete and hopefully win as many as I can."