Bank On Phil To Get Revenge At The Loch

Apr 20 2008 Euan Mclean

PHIL MICKELSON has vowed to return to Loch Lomond this summer and claim the Barclays Scottish Open title he threw away last year.

The world No.2 admits it still hurts to remember his nightmare collapse on the last hole when he only needed par to win but hooked his drive into the loch.

That left Mickelson scrambling to rescue a play-off with Gregory Havret (below) which he lost when his tee shot let him down again and the Frenchman made par to claim the £500,000 winner's cheque.

In an exclusive interview with MailSport, Mickelson told of his satisfaction at avenging another play-off defeat in the 2007 Northern Trust Open when he returned to Los Angeles two months ago to win it.

Now he has redemption in his sights again and is looking forward to the action getting under way at Loch Lomond from July 10-13.

Mickelson said: "I will definitely play the Barclays Scottish Open.

"There's no question it makes me particularly determined to win this time after the way it finished last year.

"I made amends after my play-off loss in LA and now I'm hoping to do the same at Loch Lomond."

The nature of Mickelson's defeat - his driver malfunctioning when all he needed was to come down the stretch in par - raised obvious comparisons with his infamous self-destruction in the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot.

He appeared to be cruising to his third consecutive Major when he stepped on to the final tee, only to produce a drive so wild it bounced off the roof of a hospitality marquee 150 yards to the left of the fairway.

The American's attempted recovery clipped a tree then his third shot plugged deep in a greenside bunker.

He ended up with a double bogey six and Geoff Ogilvy was the champion.

The following season Mickelson turned to Tiger Woods' former mentor Butch Harmon to sort out his inconsistency off the tee and it seemed to be working well when he plotted his way beautifully around Loch Lomond However, disaster struck at the 18th tee and again in the play-off when he only just cleared the water but still had no shot to the green, leaving the door wide open for Havret.

Yet despite all the agony Mickelson's driving has caused he reckons he now has a bigger problem. The 37-year-old admits his dedication to bringing more consistency to his long game has had a detrimental effect on his putting.

Nowhere did he feel that more than on the fearsome greens of Augusta National at last week's US Masters. Now he says regaining his touch with the putter holds the key to ending a two-year Major drought.

Phil said: "I feel I've started driving the ball much better and my priority is to work on putting because that's what cost me at the Masters.

"It's encouraging that I was striking the ball probably better than I ever have playing the Majors.

"The last piece is spending more time on putting and trying to get that dialled in. I've been neglecting it a bit because I was working so hard on the ball-striking aspect.

"When I get back to competing in a couple of weeks hopefully I'll have it straightened out."

TICKETS for this year's tournament are available now from www.barclays scottishopen.co.uk or by calling 0141 887 2992.