February 13, 2005

When Mickelson grabs hold of the $950,000 cardboard check for winning the AT& T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am today, the folks at Callaway will be giving him an applause much louder than a golf clap.

Some of them may even yell: "Cha-Chiinnnngggg!"

After all, it was Callaway’s prototype driver, irons and balls that Mickelson used in his record-setting week.

The AT&T unofficially ended when Lefty opened with a course-record 10-under 62 at Spyglass Hill in the first round Thursday. Mickelson’s birdie on Pebble’s par-5 18th hole Saturday put him 20-under, making him the leader by seven strokes over closest competitor Greg Owen.

An under-par round today and Mickelson will break Mark O’Meara’s 72-hole record 268-total set in 1997.

"Honestly, I’ve never driven it this far," Mickelson said. "If I just keep it in the cuts and keep it in play, I’m having so many wedges it’s tremendous."

"Cha-Chiinnnngggg!"

After Mickelson gets praise for his game and added distance each Tour stop, he turns the spotlight onto his new equipment.

Mickelson, who won the FBR Open in Scottsdale, Ariz., last week, carded six more birdies in his 5-under third round at Pebble Beach Saturday, giving him 22 birdies in three rounds.

Mickelson, who signed on with Callaway in September and posted a career-best, five-stroke margin of victory last week, is becoming dominant. But no one will ever accuse the ever-smiling, 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-hander of taking steroids.

"Look at Phil," said Joe Ogilvie, a PGA member in Mickelson’s foursome the first three rounds. "There’s no way he’s taking steroids. He’s a Pillsbury Dough Boy."

It has too be the equipment. What’s in Lefty’s bag?

They’re all prototypes right now, from the Hex Tour 56 balls to the X Tour irons to the 10-degree, 460cc Fusion driver.

Lefty used to play Titleist. Callaway’s Hex Tour 56 balls — which Mickelson says are long off the tee, yet soft, responsive in short-yardage situations — aren’t available for the weekend hacker yet. None of it is.

Mickelson’s making it look ready, though.

"Cha-Chiinnnngggg!"

In his record-setting round Thursday, he made all the par-5s look like pitch-and-putt holes. He birdied all four par-5 holes and has birdied eight of 13 par-5s this week.

"With a simple ball change I get my distance back and my distance control with all my wedges just increased exponentially, too," said Mickelson said, who is averaging 279-yard drives this week on the soft course.

"Cha-Chiinnnngggg!"

Mickelson has continually launched his trademark high fade off the tee. The gentleman that he is, he hasn’t hit into anybody, but it may appear different to actor/comedian George Lopez, who was playing in the foursome in front of Mickelson.

"I’ve seen Phil’s drives all week," Lopez said. "He’s unbelievable. I’m a Titleist guy, but Callaway ... we’ve got to check what’s in there. He says it’s the ball, but I’m don’t know about that."

With his new equipment, Mickelson appears Herculean. But it’s still the same old Phil, plus or minus a few hundred hours of working on his short game in the offseason.

There is a mold for guys who use steroids. They have muscles, wear baseball hats, grab their crotch region and spit tobacco. Heck, these days they play baseball. (Never mind that Mickelson had a tryout with the Toledo Mud Hens in 2003, when he tried to be a right-hander pitcher.)

Mickelson doesn’t fit the steroid-user mold.

In fact, Lefty’s physique has left him the butt of several jokes on Websites and in conversations nationwide. On humor website — sportspage43.com — wrote a fictional story about Mickelson, with an unflattering photo. The caption under the photo reads: "Ryder Cup or ‘B’ Cup?"

Mickelson doesn’t have fits of rage either. He’s more Ned Flanders, Homer Simpson’s friendly, god-fearing neighbor, than he is Ken Caminiti or Jose Canseco.

Mickelson, a family man and philanthropist, is what should be called "golf athletic."

He loves football but seems too nice for the sport.

Basketball? At 6 feet, 2 inches, he has the height, but we all know about his vertical. (One Web site dubbed his 8-inch celebration after winning The Masters last year, "The Jump." It is available on a plaque and 8x10 photo.) Regardless, it was a thing of beauty when Mickelson snapped his 0-for-42 draught, stretching nearly 13 years, in majors.

Since then he’s been Mr. Money, Mr. Consistency, Mr. Callaway. He had a round of 59 in the Grand Slam of Golf in Hawaii in November, had a 60 last week, a 62 this week ...

Today? Who knows? "He’s going to run away with this," Ogilvie promises.

"He’s killing ’em," Lopez said of the Callaway ball.

Mickelson, sudden power surge and all, is clean. The only juice he takes has pulp in it.

It has to be the equipment, right?

"Cha-Chiinnnngggg!"

Contact Jim Seimas at jseimas@santacruzsentinel.com.