MICKELSON PILES UP THE PRAISE YOUNG GOLFER COULD BE `THE NEXT REAL GOOD ONE'

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 23, 1993                   TAG: 9302230075
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LA JOLLA, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium
MICKELSON PILES UP THE PRAISE YOUNG GOLFER COULD BE `THE NEXT REAL GOOD ONE'
Phil Mickelson's amateur record, the best in more than 25 years, compares favorably with that of Jack Nicklaus. His smooth putting stroke is likened to that of a young Ben Crenshaw.
His future in pro golf is unlimited. Just call him Phenom Phil.
Mickelson, the talented left-hander with a dimpled smile, won his first tournament as a professional Sunday with a 4-shot victory in the Buick Invitational.
The accolades began immediately.
"His future can be anything he wants to make it," Nicklaus said after his first look at Mickelson.
Runner-up Dave Rummells said, "I personally think he is going to be one of the greatest players of all time."
As far back as three years ago, former PGA champion Dave Marr was raving about him.
"He could be the next real good one," Marr said after watching him win the U.S. Amateur. "He's long, has a great swing and putts like Crenshaw.
"He's a good-looking kid with a smile that just makes you feel good. And he's squeaky clean."
However, entering the Buick Invitational, his hometown tournament, Mickelson was also getting close to being overdue.
"I was under some pressure," Mickelson admitted. "There were a lot of expectations from other people, and there were my own expectations."
Those expectations were met - just in time.
After winning three national collegiate titles at Arizona State and the U.S. Amateur, after scoring a rare victory in a pro tour event as a 20-year-old amateur, Mickelson joined the PGA Tour last summer at the U.S. Open.
He missed the cut.
He won $171,713 in his first partial season as a pro and made an unsuccessful run at the title in the New England Classic.
It was a highly successful start by most standards, but he didn't win. And that was the expectation.
In that first half-season, however, there were distractions, more than the usual ones experienced by a first-year pro.
In addition to adjusting to life on the tour - learning to travel, to practice, to play and to compete at the highest level - Mickelson had other matters to handle.
With the "can't miss" label and his appearance and personality, he was besieged with offers for endorsements. They were considered very carefully, sorted out, weighed and reduced in number.
"It took quite a lot of time, a lot of thought and effort, before we decided on just what we wanted to do," Mickelson said late last year. "That's all in place now, and I can concentrate on playing golf."
After a year-end break from competition, Mickelson said he came out this season feeling "under pressure to prove myself."
A month ago in Tucson, he was in position to win after three rounds, then shot 75 and finished eighth.
"A bitter pill to swallow," he said.
The pressure mounted, as did the questions: Will he be able to make the transition from amateur to pro? Was the '91 Tucson triumph a fluke? Was it too much too soon?
Those questions were answered and many doubts erased in a near-flawless performance before family and friends at Torrey Pines.
He won, and he won big.
He's back on track, and, at age 22, Mickelson figures to be around for quite some time.
He will reach the age of the current U.S. Open champion in the year 2014.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB