*If you've read Geoff Shackelford's new book he warns about what Ian Woosnam says in this article. And if you have followed any of the threads about Hank Kuehne's prodigious distance this confirms it when he can carry a driver 345 yards.
Mickelson paints a grim future of nothing but big hitters
2003-04-08 16:13 (New York)
by Erskine McCullough
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 8 (AFP) - Long-hitting Phil Mickelson is desperately seeking more distance off the tee so he can carry on playing professional golf.
The world number three, who booms the ball 300 yards, admits that's not far enough if he wants to stay at the top.
"I can see the game changing," warns Mickelson. "I'm looking 10 years down the road.
"Look at Hank Kuehne. Hank Kuehne can fly the ball 345 yards. When he is able to chip and putt as good as anybody in the world he will be unbeatable.
"Look at how driving distance has changed the last 10 years. I remember when I came out on the tour, 272 or 274 was leading in distance. And now 272 would be the bottom, the bottom five percent.
"Three-hundred-yard drives are the norm and it's going to get longer. "So the game is evolving, it's changing. And you have to adapt or change with it. If I don't keep up, I am going to be out of a job," he explained.
"I look at the young guys coming through college and the
physical strength they have now and the ability to swing the club so much faster than many of us on tour today.
"I use that as a motivation for me to get in the gym to work out, to get stronger and be able to take advantage of some of the technology now days."
It is a picture that brings dispair to Welshman Ian Woosnam, the 1991 Masters champion.
"The game to me is gone. I don't like it anymore. It's not fun," is his no-holds barred assessment of the effects of the latest technological advances.
"These new clubs, the balls, they are great and go a long
distance, but there doesn't seem to be any shape to them.
"It's just not enjoyable. It's just hit-and-blast at the
moment." "The game has changed. It's just hit it as far as you can. There doesn't seem to be any finesse anymore, cut one against the wind, or hook one against the wind, hit one in low."
Mickelson, still trying to rid himself of the tag of being the
best player never to have won a major, knows that he still has the distance to challenge here this week.
"Because of the course changes, it has allowed a longer hitter an ever greater opportunity to win here, because the shorter player is hitting such a longer club in to those holes now and that's a hugh disadvantage. Not just a little one," Mickelson said.
However Mickelson's one fear here is his lack of "match" fitness after taking time off when his wife had their third child. After a four-week layoff, Mickelson he played his first
competitive round last week at Duluth, Georgia.
"It was more difficult that I thought to get back into it," he
admitted. Now Mickelson refuses to consider what might happen this week. "I'm really not going to worry about the outcome or the result. I'm just going to try as best I can," he said.
If Woods stumbles, that might just be enough for Mickelson to win the one major he has always insisted plays to his strength.