NORTON, Mass. — Pronouncing himself satisfied with his first day in competition using a belly putter, Phil Mickelson cut short a press conference following his opening-round 1-under 70 at the Deutsche Bank Championship to continue working with his flat stick.
“I got off to a great start with it, making about a 10?footer on the first hole for birdie and then an eight?footer on the second for birdie. I thought it went well,” Mickelson said Friday after putting his Keegan Bradley-replica Odyssey Sabertooth model into action 29 times. “I feel that I’m probably putting better with that putter than I would be the short putter, so I’ll end up using it for the rest of the tournament I would anticipate. But I don’t know if it’s a short?term or a long?term thing, but it feels good.”
Mickelson entertained a few more questions before begging off in favor of the practice green. His refusal to do a stand-up with Golf Channel raised the hackles of GC broadcaster Steve Sands, who lit into PGA Tour officials for letting Mickelson walk away without an exclusive close-up for the camera.
The usually garrulous Mickelson seemed to be economizing his words this week, if Thursday and Friday’s quickie press conferences were any indication. In addition to his presser-interruptus today, Lefty met briefly with a few writers off the ninth green after a Thursday practice round.
More important to golf fans, Mickelson spent a long while signing autographs after leaving the podium on Friday. He then made his way to the practice green and for a while was the only player trying to hone his stroke. Connecticut golfer J.J. Henry and his long putter joined Mickelson, after which 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III crashed the party with his conventional blade.
Equipment mavens may recall that Love had his own short-lived experiment with an oversized putter before returning to a stick more pleasing to golf purists.
“What I’ve determined is [there’s nothing magical about] the belly and long putter,” Love told us back in April. “If there were, everyone would have one.”
Mickelson, for his part, was likely to continue on his odyssey with the big bat.
“I haven’t spent enough time with it [to understand the ins and outs of the belly putter],” Mickelson said. “The guys that have used it for a long time, Brendan Steele, Keegan Bradley, Martin Laird, Webb Simpson — those guys really know a lot more about it and the intricacies of it, but it felt good today. I enjoyed it. I had fun today.”
So much fun that he practically closed down the practice green missing putts from downtown and a couple of feet before some of the shorter-range missiles began to drop.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
