``I do enjoy the West Coast,'' Mickelson said. ``I'm excited to play golf and I practice very hard on the West Coast when the season is coming around and I haven't played for awhile, I've got a lot of energy and I'm excited to get back out. I think all of these things, plus the fact that I grew up here and used to walk these fairways on the outside, I just have a great love for the West Coast.
``I've been fortunate to play well here.''
It should be no surprise that Riviera took so long.
Until last year, Mickelson had missed the cut four out of eight times, including the 1995 PGA Championship. He loved the look of Riviera, but was confounded by the sticky kikuya grass that could grab the ball as it was approaching the green.
There's an art to his course off Sunset Boulevard, and he was a slow learner.
``I didn't understand the nuances of this golf course, where you can and can't hit it,'' he said. ``And learning those nuances and how to hit the shots into some of these greens has helped me over the years. Last year was when I started to put it together, and I'm fortunate to break through this year.''
Sweeter still is having his name on the roll call of a champions, a list that includes Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead. And it's a list that doesn't include Tiger Woods, or even Jack Nicklaus.
And now that another victory is in the bag, he's hungry for more.
``It's not quite to where I believe I can get it, but I feel like it's been much better than in the past, so I feel like I'm getting better,'' Mickelson said of his game. ``I can taste where I want to get to. But I'm not quite there yet.''
