Mickelson seeks Faldo magic in Open bid

Phil Mickelson has turned to three-times winner Nick Faldo in a bid to boost his chances of finally winning a British Open.

The 40-year-old American, who has won three Masters and one USPGA title but failed to capture either the US Open or the British Open, is desperate to hold aloft the Auld Claret Jug on Sunday.

And finding himself playing alongside the recently ennobled Sir Nick in a practice round on Tuesday, Mickelson pounded the Englishman with questions.

"I had a chance to play with Nick and I asked him a bunch of questions because he's got a lot of great thoughts on St. Andrews and avoiding bunkers and shots into the greens and what allowed him to win and be so dominant in 1990. He played some of the best golf you've ever seen there," said Mickelson.

Faldo won the second of his three Opens at St Andrews in 1990 and Mickelson, whose best finish to date in 16 attempts was third at Royal Troon in 2004, says he thinks the Old Course represents his best chance on the circuit of winning the championship.

"There's no question this one best suits my game because there's so much more room off the tee than other Open venues," he said.

"There's plenty of room out there. I don't feel restrained on the tee at all. I feel like there's plenty of room to hit it, and it's more of a second shot golf course.

"It also allows short game to be a factor. It wasn't until 2004 that I started to play the wind effectively.

"Even when I would hit low shots, I would have way too much spin on it. It wasn't until 2004 that I had kind of an epiphany of how to do that by taking more club and swinging easier and so forth."

Mickelson, whose wife Amy has been battling against breast cancer for the last 18 months, has saved his best form so far this year for the majors.

He won his third Masters title in April and followed that up with a fourth-place finish at the US Open at Pebble Beach in June.

But he missed the cut at the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond last week mainly due to taking a nine at the 18th after being forced to hit three balls off the tee.

Mickelson, though, says he feels his game is in good shape and that he has never felt so enthusiastic about his chances in the buildup to an Open championship.

To add to his motivation, the San Diego left-hander is poised to finally dislodge Tiger Woods from the world number one spot, although he insists that would merely be the icing on the cake should he win on Sunday.

"It would be very special to win at St. Andrews. That to me is the biggest thing," he said.

"I think that if it were up to me, I would play this championship here every year. As much as I love all of the other golf courses, there's something so special about St. Andrews."