Mickelson unsure of club selection for Open

"I remember asking Phil how he prepares for the majors. He said, 'Well, I take Monday off, Tuesday I play the course. Wednesday, I play nine holes.' I asked him why he never went in early to a course. He said because he knew the courses. I said: 'Do me a favor. Come early with me.' But he kept making excuses. So I finally said: 'How many majors have you won? You won zero of 43 doing it your way. Let's try it my way once.' And he said, 'OK, I can't argue with that.'"

So they went to Augusta two weeks before the 2004 Masters. Mickelson won, and that's been the game plan ever since. "I never got him to change his game or his personality," Pelz said. "But he is now more aware of the percentage chances of succeeding."

With Tiger Woods missing from Birkdale, Mickelson is the No.1 player in a major for the first time. But he and Pelz were quick to deny that Tiger's absence will have any effect on their gameplan. "You don't ask who was sick or whose hand hurt when Ben Hogan won his majors; it's not the measure of a man's career who did and didn't play," Pelz said. "The day Phil Mickelson starts driving it in the fairway, he's going to be the best player in the world," Pelz added.

Are you listening, Tiger?

Mickelson was asked if the imagination required to play links golf gives him an added sense of relish. "You got me on relish," Mickelson said, laughing. "I'm thinking of pickles."

Extra-special enjoyment, came the rephrased question. "It's so different from what we play day-in, day-out in the States," Mickelson continued, "it is something that I ... relish."