hr: Golfing

On the driving range Sunday at Torrey Pines, Phil Mickelson was hitting driver, warming up for his 9:20 a.m. tee time in the final round of the 108th U.S. Open. Mackay laughed along with Mickelson and swing instructor Butch Harmon.

Saturday, Mickelson awoke at his Rancho Santa Fe home to a headline in the San Diego Union-Tribune that read, “Mickelson’s no-driver experiment a flop.” “The second biggest [was] when Phil took the headcover off his driver,” said USGA starter Ron Read.

In the interim, Pelz emphasized to Mickelson that playing from the fairway was going to be the key for the week. Their plan was based on a club Mickelson had made for him at the Callaway facility, a 13-degree FT Fairway 3-wood bent to 11.5 degrees. Able to carry shots hit with that club 280 yards, with 20 yards of roll, Mickelson was hoping to put less stress on his short game by keeping his ball in the fairway.

The plan backfired when Mickelson hit just 12 fairways, made only six birdies and shot rounds of 71-75. “I don’t know anybody who can hit a driver straighter than a 3-wood.”

“Hitting driver just threw me off,” he deadpanned.

Some say Mickelson hasn’t been right since the heartbreak of Winged Foot (a poorly timed replay was showing on the giant screen overlooking the driving range as he warmed up Thursday morning), that since working with Harmon, he hasn’t made significant inroads into Tiger’s domain. Mickelson’s supporters say his new method is a work in progress. He has won four PGA Tour events since hooking up with Harmon, including the 2007 Players and a head-to-head duel with Woods at last year’s Deutsche Bank Championship. Mickelson shot 68 Sunday to finish T-18, seven shots out of the playoff.