Notebook

Where Mickelson Flopped
WEDGE WORRIES

Everyone considers Phil Mickelson to be a virtuoso of the flop
shot, which has become a staple of the modern game. He is
legendary for his circus shots on the practice range, where he
can gently flip his ball just over another pro's shoulder into a
hat that player is holding, or take a full rip and hit a 10-yard
shot that spins back five. "Phil does things that nobody else
even tries," says Skip Kendall. That's why it's so startling to
hear Mickelson say, "I've known for years that my short game has
deteriorated."

Since his rookie year in 1993, Mickelson has been mostly abysmal
in the Tour's scrambling statistic, which measures how often a
player makes par or better after missing a green. Four times he
has ranked 114th or worse. Here's why: Instead of sticking with
the 60-degree lob wedge he used so effectively as an amateur,
Mickelson switched in 1994 to a wedge he helped design for the
company whose irons he's paid to play. This season he switched
back to the club he used in his formative years.

The wedge he had been using as a pro, made by Yonex, had less
bounce than his old club, a 1988 Ping Eye2 L-wedge. (Bounce is
the degree of separation between the leading edge of the clubhead
and the end of the flange on the back of the club.) More bounce
helps a club ride through sand and grass without digging in.
Mickelson has always said that the key to the flop shot is to hit
slightly behind the ball and let the club glide under the ball.
The trouble with the Yonex was that it sometimes grabbed the
grass. "I thought they were identical, but they didn't perform
the same," he says. "I would still hit some good shots and hole
out my share, but the consistency wasn't there. I had to change
my technique to get the club to perform, and that hurt my short
game."

Because he wasn't getting the ball as close to the hole from off
the green, Mickelson was leaving himself more putts in the
difficult six- to eight-foot range. That contributed to a loss of
confidence in his putting, which led to crucial misses, like
those at last year's U.S. Open and Ryder Cup.

Mickelson wishes he had returned to his old wedge earlier. He
didn't for two reasons. First, he experienced a problem common
among U.S. pros who play Japanese clubs. "It was difficult, with
the factory in Japan, to have the clubs properly altered," he
says. Second, out of loyalty to his sponsor, he did not want to
admit the club was causing him trouble. "Because I was so
involved with the design of the wedge, I felt an obligation to
play it," he says. "So I stayed with it and just kept hitting it
over and over."

Last year, though, Mickelson did not win for the first time in
his seven seasons, and that caused him to take stock. One of the
missed shots that stuck out came in the Open at Pinehurst, where
he excelled because he was the only contender with enough skill
and nerve to use a 60-degree wedge from the tight turf around the
greens. However, he says, "the shot I was mostly playing there
was a low skipper in which I put my hands ahead and caught the
ball first, so the [club's] bounce didn't make any difference."

On the 70th hole Mickelson was leading Payne Stewart by one when
he tried to hit a 20-yard shot from the greenside rough that
required sliding the wedge under the ball. He left the shot 10
feet short and missed the putt to drop into a tie. "That was one
where the club dug in as opposed to scooting through," he says,
"and a perfect example of the problem I was having. It cost me."

So in the off-season Mickelson put the well-worn Eye2 back into
his bag. (He also replaced his Yonex pitching wedge with a Ping
and his 56-degree sand wedge with one made by Titleist.) "The
change came overnight," he says. "I've stopped giving a thought
to whether the club is going to dig. I've been getting up and
down left and right. This lets me go back to attacking pins."

On such small adjustments big comebacks are made.

Good Enough for Augusta?
CAMPBELL'S CASE

Half a world away from Tigermania, Michael Campbell of New
Zealand has lit up the Southern Hemisphere. On Sunday, Campbell,
31, won the Australian Masters for his third victory in four
weeks, grabbing the final berth in next week's Andersen
Consulting Match Play. Although he has jumped from 159th to 65th
in the World Ranking since his hot streak began in November--when
he beat Woods in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan--and now
leads the European and the Australasian tour money lists,
Campbell has failed to turn heads at Augusta National. He was not
among the international players invited to the Masters, so the
second-hottest golfer in the world must improve his ranking to
50th or better by March 6 to qualify for the first major of the
year.

Campbell played in his only Masters in 1996, the year after he
finished third in the British Open. Struggling from a severe left
wrist injury, he missed the cut at the Masters and the PGA and
floundered until late '97, when he began to retool his swing with
coach Jonathon Yarwood. "My confidence is very high," Campbell
says. "I've broken down a lot of barriers, and now the floodgates
are open." --Chris Lewis

COLOR PHOTO: J.D. CUBAN Pitchman Mickelson struggled with the wedges he had designed.

COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND

COLOR PHOTO: SCOTT SHARPE

COLOR PHOTO: W.T. HARRINGTON

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID DUROCHIK

Drilling Down
THE VIEW FROM THE CADDIE SHACK

Coming for the Masters, caddiechat.com

The third leg of the time-honored caddie tenet Show Up, Keep Up
and Shut Up could be in for a challenge with the scheduled launch
on April 7 of caddiechat.com. Puttermaker Bobby Grace, who
founded the Web site, has lined up Tour caddies Joe Grillo, who
works for Steve Elkington, Carl Hart (Chris Perry), Carl Jackson
(Ben Crenshaw), Dave Renwick (Vijay Singh) and Bob Riefke (Justin
Leonard) to share insights and opinions about what goes on inside
the ropes, participate in chat rooms, write diaries and post
their yardage books.

Grace hopes to sign at least 20 caddies but is meeting some
predictable resistance. The dilemma: How to tell all and not
break one of the 10 Commandments for Caddies? Grace says the
solution is to tell only some. "There won't be any problems," he
says. "This is for those who want to know what it feels like to
have a two-stroke lead with three holes to play. What players or
caddies do at night, or anything about salaries, that's out."

Sounds good, but so far most of the caddie fraternity remains
unsold. "The way I see it, potentially there's a big upside,"
says one caddie who--surprise!--asked not to be identified, "but
there's a bigger downside."

10 Commandments for Caddies

1. When tending the pin, don't step on anyone's line.

2. Carry two towels: a clean one for your player's face, hands
and arms, and a wet one for balls and clubs.

3. Always count clubs (and beware of cutoff kids' clubs).

4. Rake traps by lowering the handle to minimize ridges.

5. Keep records of every yardage, lie, pin position, green and
wind direction, as well as the result of every shot.

6. Play traffic cop, settling restless galleries or media with a
firm "Stand, please" or "Hold all cameras."

7. When your player is practicing with his driver, wipe off
every ball and toss it to him.

8. Do not ask about your player's plans for the evening.

9. Do not say, "Nice shot," unless it truly is.

10. Do not kick, step on, be hit by or touch a ball in play.

The Most Egregious Caddie Error Ever

After Byron Nelson laid up at the par-5 13th hole at Canterbury
in the third round of the 1946 U.S. Open, his caddie, Eddie
Martin, stumbled as he ducked under the galley rope and
accidentally kicked Nelson's ball. Nelson was penalized one
stroke. He finished 72 holes tied with Vic Ghezzi and Lloyd
Mangrum and lost the 36-hole playoff to Mangrum by a shot.
Afterward Nelson told Bill Stern, the announcer of the radio
broadcast, which was sponsored by Gillette, "Bill, just give me
one of those things you're advertising, and I'll cut my throat."

Trust Me

Don't expect Tiger Woods to start another winning streak this
week at the Nissan Open in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Woods will
lay low for a while then work toward a peak effort for the
Masters at Augusta National, where he will continue a streak that
he really cares about with his second consecutive major title.

Threesomes
What do these players have in common?

--Costantino Rocca
--Mark O'Meara
--Jeff Maggert

They're the only players to beat Tiger Woods in match play since
he turned pro.

Feedback
If you could play 18 holes with one of the following golfers when
he was 24,

which would it be?
Bobby Jones 13%
Jack Nicklaus 22%
Arnold Palmer 16%
Tiger Woods 49%

--Based on 2,912 responses to our informal survey

Next question: Which is the greatest feat: Nicklaus's 18 majors,
Jones's grand slam or Nelson's 11 straight wins? Vote at
golfplus.cnnsi.com.

Numbers

Fifteen of the 64 pros in next week's World Match Play were not
in the field last year. Here are the new players, those they
replaced and everyone's World Ranking.*

IN OUT

S. Garcia (15) B. Glasson (68)
D. Toms (22) J. Cook (74)
C. Perry (24) S. Verplank (76)
T. Herron (31) I. Woosnam (77)
R. Goosen (32) E. Romero (78)
P. Lawrie (42) S. Leaney (88)
B. Geiberger (45) B. Faxon (90)
M. Weir (48) P. Sjoland (94)
T. Tryba (55) F. Minoza (97)
P. Harrington (56) C. Stadler (98)
D. Waldorf (60) S. Jones (123)
O. Browne (62) T. Watson (134)
D. Paulson (63) M. Bradley (154)
A. Cabrera (64) N. Faldo (183)
M. Campbell (65) P. Stewart (NA)

*Jumbo Ozaki, number 36, did not enter.

DOSSIER
MATT GOGEL

HEIGHT 5'10"

WEIGHT 180 pounds
AGE 29

WORLD RANKING 178

DISTINCTION Tour rookie who almost ended Tiger Woods's streak at
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, leading him by seven shots
on final nine.

STYLE OF PLAY Straight off tee. Hits approaches pin high rather
than shooting at flag. Has many 20-foot birdie putts and does
well when par is a good score.

BEST CLUB The putter. "I'm a realistic putter. I don't expect to
make every seven-footer."

WEAKNESS The power game (119th in driving distance). He struggles
with long irons. Doesn't hit many par-5s in two.

FAVORITE COURSE Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, Kans., a three-hour
drive from his home in Mission Hills.

GREATEST SHOT A 135-yard nine-iron to two feet on final hole to
win 1996 Boise Open, his first Buy.com victory.

THE MOMENT HIS WIFE, BLAIR, DECIDED TO MARRY HIM When Gogel
disqualified himself from the third round of the '95 Qualifying
school's final stage after realizing he'd taken improper drop in
first round.

Faces

Sutton Barbrey, Raleigh
Sutton, 16, won the 52nd Donald Ross Junior Championships at
Pinehurst No. 5, beating a field of 134 boys in the 15-17 age
division. After tying Andrew Lanahan at one-over-par 145 for 36
holes, Sutton, a junior at Millbrook High, birdied the first
playoff hole for the victory. The tournament attracted
competitors from 17 states.

Natalie Gulbis, Sacramento
Natalie, 17, edged Taffy Brower one up at Coral Ridge Country
Club in Fort Lauderdale to win the Ione D. Jones/Doherty Match
Play title. Natalie birdied the 36th hole to complete a rally
from 3 down against Brower. Natalie, who played in the LPGA's
Longs Drugs Challenge at age 14, will attend Arizona on a golf
scholarship.

Rick Ten Broeck, Chicago
Ten Broeck, 51, won the senior division of the Dixie Amateur at
Palm-Aire Country Club in Pompano Beach, Fla., beating Gunnar
Bennett 3 and 2. Ten Broeck, an older brother of former PGA Tour
pro Lance Ten Broeck, eliminated three other players on the way
to the title, including medalist Rick Woulfe.

Submit Faces candidates to golfplus.cnnsi.com/faces.