Atlanta Athletic Club Diary

A USPGA championship miscellany

JAPANESE TEENAGER Ryo Ishikawa is known as ‘The Bashful Prince’ but the teenager was left a little red-faced for a difference reason after a horrendous opening salvo here as he ran up numbers more akin to an international dialling code home.

Taking the Mick: Phil slams modern course architecture for ruining it for the average Joe

NEVER A man to keep his opinion to himself, Phil Mickelson – who opened with a 71 – was hugely critical of the four Par 3s here at Atlanta Athletic Club. It wasn’t a moan, more a case for the defence on behalf of regular club players.

“It’s a perfect example of how modern architecture is killing the game, because these holes are unplayable for the (club) member . . . you have water in front, you have a bunker behind, and you give the player no avenue to run a shot up,” said Mickelson with a shake of his head.

He added: “For us out here (on tour), it doesn’t make a bit of difference, because we are going to fly the ball to the green either way, and it’s great for the championship, but it is a good reason why, in my opinion, modern architecture is killing the participation of the sport because the average guy just can’t play it.”

Mickelson, a two-time PGA champion in 2003 and 2005, did give back to the course by admitting “they truly are the best fairways I’ve ever seen, and the greens are in immaculate shape” but admitted that he will have to improve in the coming days to be a factor at the business end of the championship.

“Certainly not what I wanted,” he said of his 71, adding: “But I feel like my game is right there, it’s about to turn . . . and I’m going to fight hard tomorrow to get into the weekend.”

Mickelson, joint runner-up to Darren Clarke at last month’s British Open, certainly didn’t throw in the towel even as he looked at the leaderboard that had Steve Stricker eight shots ahead of him.

“There were a lot of positives in there and I made four birdies and my putting felt pretty solid. It is funny how this game shifts a little bit. I had a lot of good control off the tee last week (in Akron) and today it just didn’t feel that comfortable.

“I will do a bit of work on it but I don’t want to spend too much time out there in the sun and try and get some of the good feelings that I had last week back.”

Major help: Practice round points the way for Kelly

RIVALS THEY may be in the actual competition, but Jerry Kelly attributed playing practice rounds with Steve Stricker and Scott Verplank as being a major help to his bid to contend.

Hey presto, all three of them have jumped into contention.

“We saw that you really didn’t need to overpower this golf course, that position was the key. It certainly helped me . . . we’re not natural long hitters but we made a lot of birdies (in practice) and I think we took a lot of comfort coming into a longer golf course, that you don’t really have to explode on every shot.”

Once known for his aggressive play, Kelly has tried to rein in that impulse.

“I’m trying to scale it back, consciously, and I did a fantastic job today and I’d like to continue for the rest of my life.”