Masters winner Phil Mickelson now halfway home to a Mickel-slam

The Mickel-slam? Well, good for Phil. I mean the guy's clearly put away a LOT of grub at Denny's, so it's a nice gesture that they're naming a meal after him. Let me guess, it comes with a big load of ham and two saggy pancakes, right?

Another Phil Fan...I think.

Not really. I was actually rooting for Couples to conquer the yips one last time (nope, he's done). But I do appreciate Mickelson's immense talent for what it is. I think he's got a legitimate shot at this 4-bagger.

Wow... right after Phil won the masters i thought to myself which one of the travelgolf staff writers is going to come up with a 4-0 prediction..Im sad to see its you shanky.The point is....
You are very wrong.
Tiger Woods has way to much pride and drive to let anything like that happen. Im not saying phil doesnt have the game..he does, he proved that last week. Common bro..lets not get caught up in the moment.

Georgie Porgie Puddin & Pie - if you read my blog, you'll see it's a suggestion that that a Mickel-slam could happen, not a prediction. But he's definitely got a chance.

um shanks....
sorry for being such a porgie
its just that in my book, suggesting that something could/will happen is called a prediction..but lets not get caught up with that argument, english is my second language so ill give you that one. The fact is woods hates mickelson and he wont allow him to steal his parade.....oh and another thing...michelson winning the Open? I thouht we left the comedy for Baldwin.

I'm saying Mickelson has a chance. Admittedly, the chances of him winning the Open is slim. But if he is able to capture the US Open crown - which he has a very good chance of winning - as soon as the trophy presentation is over he's liable to head directly to the airport for an overseas flight to Scotland or Ireland to work on his links-type shots for a month. He'd like nothing better than to duplicate Tiger's feat. I don't think he's crazy about Woods either.

I really don't think there is any animosity between Tiger and Phil. I believe it is all created by the media. And a lot of it probably stems from Phil's comments about Tiger using inferior equipment, which was true and actually meant as a compliment. Tiger knew it was true, but there's no way he could acknowledge that when Nike is paying him millions to be a walking billboard.

Phil is the favorite going into Winged Foot, there is no doubt in my mind. Phil has more natural talent than anyone else on tour, even Tiger. Tiger is the only one on tour that comes close. The thing that has separated Phil and Tiger is that Tiger is a grinder to the core, while Phil is more laid back. The main thing lacking from Phil's game has been confidence. But after winning the last two majors, I have a feeling that won't be an issue going forward (or as much of an issue).

Now, the open championship is a different ball game all together, but I agree with Shanks that if Phil wins at Winged Foot, he will spend additional time preparing for it. And if we look back to 2004 when Phil won his first Masters and 2nd at the us open, he came close to winning the open. Just imagine how confident his game will be if he goes into the open championship with a 3 major winning streak.

Phil has always had the talent, but now that he has the confidence to go with it, watch out.

Jeff makes a good point in that Mickelson finished just a shot out of the playoff between Hamilton & Els in the 2004 Open Championship. So don't pooh-pooh his chances at Hoylake just yet.

I did not intend to infer that there was some animosity between Mickelson & Woods. They get along ok when they have to. But I am saying they'll likely never be buddies.

What a let down the Masters was, after waiting until 11pm Saturday night( Glasgow time ) rain delay, watching Georgie Porgy taking a commanding lead was unbearable, a tongue in cheek comment from Peter Allis amused me no end, "I hear Phil goes to the gym every week , wonder what he does there ".
Sunday you just hoped anybody would have a wonder round, and Billy Bunter would flounder under the weight of his stomachs, and chins,not to be, so for some excitement I took to sticking pins in my eyes, was more fun than watching him.
I did something I have never done before, turned the TV off before the presentation, I could not bear to watch the smug round face, grinning, as the green jacket was placed on his over burdened shoulders.
Shanks I too was rooting for Couples, his achilles heel, his short putts, and it proved once again too ominous for him, sad to see, but not totally unexpected.
I doubt Tiger will win either of the other 3 majors, I know exactly how he feels, my Dad died of cancer 8 weeks ago, and the couple of month's before, and even now, takes a terrible toll on your mind, and soul, I admire him tremendously for his resolve, and you knew how much it would have meant to him winning for his Dad.

Ann, we have shared a similar experience in the loss of our Dads. There aren't many things that can get to Tiger's psyche, but having been there, you and I fully understand that this is one of them.

Ann; Your comments about Phil weight are completely rude and uncalled for. You are just a a**hole looking for an excuse to insult Phil. If you are such a Tiger lover then why dont you blame Tiger for not being able to hole a putt for sh*t down the stretch. If it was in any way dull it was because the challengers, Tiger, did not make a run at Phil. Phil played a near-flawless round of golf which forced the others to push, much like Tiger has done before. I bet you did not blame TW for the dull final round of last years Open, even though the situation was very similar then. Personally seeing Tiger put the jacket on Phil could not have made me happier, but now hearing comments like losers like yourself just makes the win all the more satisfying!

Jeff Bonifaci, what are you talking about? There is no greater (natural) talent in golf than Tiger Woods. He's the best, and that's just undebatable.

Also, Tiger and Phil do hate each other. the No. 1 and No. 2 golfers in the world can never be friends, or even very friendly towards each other. There's too much rivalry.

Simon, Tis a free world, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, you have yours, I have mine, thank goodness for freedom of speech and blogs like this.
I think had you taken the time to read what I wrote about fathers with cancer, how it affects the mind of the person whose father is going through this, then you would have understood, Shanks understands, he has been in the situation, it is one of the hardest things to endure, ( does it get any easier Shanks? ), what Tiger did was admirable, you understood the missed putts, the pressure he was under, the pain, fear and worry he must be carrying, his desire to win one last time for his Dad, if nothing else you have to admire his resolve.
Yes I am a Tiger lover, an Ernie lover, Vijay, Brad, et al, I just love golf and watching magnificient players, I just don't happen to like Phil, my opinion Simon, to which I am allowed, I will accept your insults to me, without insulting you back.

Sorry, David, but the top golfers CAN be friends if they have a mind to be. Look at Nicklaus and any of his main rivals if you need an example (Palmer, Player, Watson, etc). I don't think Tiger wants to be friends with any of the top guys.

Ann, the saying goes that "time heals all wounds" but some take much longer than others. It got better for me once the period passed in which I grasped what a hole had been created in my life. Can't say exactly when but at some point it morphed into where I was just grateful to have had this person be a major part of my time here on earth. Everyone is different and there is no set timetable. Bless you as you go through this transition.

Most of the top European players from the 80's/90's were great friends, and still are, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Seve, Jose, the one who never was close to anyone was Nick Faldo, he never tried to be friendly, don't think it was his nature to be friendly anyway, prefered the caustic/sarcastic approach, plus Watson, Trevino, etc, were all friendly with the European guys, perhaps it was a different world then?.
Thanks Shanks, I like that very much " I grasped what a hole had been created in my life ", oh absolutely, I will await the morphing, don't think it will be anytime soon, nor do I expect that either, but I accept,and will go through it, no point denying or fighting the inevitable.
Of course there will be rivalry, they are all vying for the top spot, at least it is not like fooball ( soccer ), where sometimes tempers flare and punches get thrown, now come to think of it, would that not have made better entertainment Sunday night than watching Phil win, kidding Simon, just kidding ha!.

You know, Ann, even now, a few years later, I catch myself thinking about Dad and as one memory inevitably gives way to another, I get a little teary-eyed and realize just how fortunate I've been to be touched so deeply by one person. His shadow was cast deeper than I ever knew.

How lucky we were Shanks to have such deep feelings for a Dad, even now a few years later, memories burn brightly for you, albeit painful at times, I should imagine that will happen to me as well, just now feelings are raw, emotions fragile, pain intense, on Sunday I was going to phone Dad and jokingly say, " do you think Phil might win then ", of course there was no Dad to phone.
I will miss Loch Lomond with Dad, then I would drag him off to the Open the following week, of course he loved Monty, I love Sandy, so I would walk round a bit with Dad watching Monty ( glaring at anybody if they dared to breath ha! ), Dad would walk round with me watching Sandy, oh how I will miss those moments, my brother and nephew watching Tiger, I learned my love of golf from Dad, starting with pitch and putt.
So yes indeed Shanks, their shadows are very deep, and how grateful we are to have those shadows, better to have had that love, than none at all, they helped make us the people we are today.
So you will have felt the same as me on Sunday watching Tiger, knowing how he feels, knowing the pain that is to come, Padraig was just the same, he lost his Dad to eosophagus cancer last year, look how long it has taken him to come back, as he freely admits, losing his Dad shook him to the core.

About the friendship thing.

The Palmer-Nicklaus thing always looked a bit phoney to me when I see old tapes.

I don't think Trevino and Watson really liked Nicklaus either, although I could concieve the two actually liking each other.

Hogan admitted that his close friendship with Nelson faded into nothingness when he started competing tooth-and-nail with him week after week. Of course, Hogan eventually outdid Nelson by a long way.

Snead was never a friend to Nelson, and Hogan was never a friend to Snead.

Each of one those Europeans was in turn the greatest golfer in the world at one point or another, and although you could say they were friendly towards one another, I don't think they were friends.

Tiger only has a few friends, but I think this is because he feels very weary of the players on tour. There was so much jealously towards Tiger when he first came on the scene, and I think he still feels stung by that.

About the only guy who befriended him greatly was the then-best player in the world, Mark O'Mera. Now, I think most just wish they hadn't been such assholes towards him.

Hey, who needs friends when you're worth half a billion and have got a wife like that?

David, I can't help how you percieve the "old tapes". Nicklaus and Palmer were/are friends. Player too. They stayed in each other's houses even back in the old days. Once, back in the 60's when Nicklaus was getting burned out on golf, he went to Gary Player's ranch in South Africa. It was there that Player motivated him back into competition. Nicklaus tried to model himself after Bobby Jones - mainly because his Dad taught him that way. Of course, all these guys tried to beat each other's brains out, but they were good friends off the course.

Tiger is not that way - at least not yet. Right now, he's more like Hogan. I'm sure he's got his reasons.

David, I could never imagine anyone not liking Nicklaus, he was and is a gentleman, same with Palmer, I watch the old tapes on the golf channel, to me the feelings were genuine.
Yes a lot of the Europeans still remain friends, look at the partnership of the Ryder Cup, Ian the captain, and old friend Sandy part of the team, another interesting friendship, Vijay and Sandy, became friends on the European tour, and remain best friends, Sandy has a house next door to Vijay at Sawgrass, using it in the summer and staying at his home in Scotland in winter, so yes friendships do exist, and remain. Though David it is not compulsary to become friends, nor neccesary, they are actually going to work and doing a job, how many friends do you accumulate in the workplace.
I do think Tiger is mellowing, perhaps he is realising that there is more to life than golf.
Does anybody have an opinion on Camillo Villegas?, I thought his golf exciting and interesting, I would never say he is the next etc, etc, all are individuals, and have we not seen it so many times over the years, who can predict, I thought we might see great things from Sean o'Hair, though we still might, he had a wonderful rookie season winning the John Deere Classic, still waiting for decent British players, and most certainly ones without inflated ego's, that don't match their golf.

Time will tell on Villegas. He really burst on the scene this year with a few top 3 finishes. He just missed his 3rd cut of the year at Hilton Head. He comes from the Nationwide Tour where he finished 13th on the 2005 money list (top 15 get PGA Tour membership). Last year he finished in the top 10 nine times out of 26 tournaments but did not win. Will have to give him lots of time to see if he can actually win on Tour.

Sean O'Hair was mentioned.

So far, in 12 tournaments, he has made 6 cuts.

Of those he has finished:
66th, 61st, 58th, 48th, which are pretty ordinary probably by his expectations.

Then he had 1 27th in the Mercedes, but there was only about 28 players or so.

At the match play he got to the last 32.

Poor start Sean. Much better performance mate.

Luckily, he has a 2 year exemption, with his win last year, because it could be very difficult for him to hold onto his card otherwise.

I like it...Mickel-Slam has a much better sound than Tigger-Slam.