To the core, Lefty's a Left Coast guy

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Phil Mickelson waded in nostalgia as he talked about golf on the West Coast. He spoke of his grandfather long ago working as a caddie on the Monterey Peninsula, for the princely sum of 25 cents per round. He recalled watching tournaments on television as a kid and reminisced about making his professional debut in the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.Those are wonderful memories, no doubt, but there's another reason behind Mickelson's fondness for the West Coast swing: That's usually where he pockets victories.Mickelson will return to Pebble Beach next month as winner of two of the past three PGA Tour events held there. And his history of success on the West Coast swing stretches beyond Carmel Bay and its craggy coastline -- Mickelson has collected 15 of his 32 tour victories in California and Arizona.He grew up in San Diego and carries abundant course knowledge, but he found another reason for his habitual early-season prosperity."The biggest reason is I'm so excited to play golf after I've had a break," Mickelson said Monday on a conference call to promote the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. "I'm practicing harder and working harder -- I don't feel tired, as often happens as the year goes on. I also have a special place in my heart for the courses."For the record, Mickelson has won 10 tour wins in California -- Pebble three times, Torrey Pines three times, the Bob Hope Classic twice and the Mercedes twice at La Costa -- and five in Arizona (three in Tucson and two in Scottsdale). He lost in a playoff last year at Riviera, the only current California stop where he hasn't won.Mickelson will begin his 2008 season next week, as he resumes his quest to narrow the ever-widening gap between himself and Tiger Woods. Mickelson remains a solid No. 2 in the world rankings, but he needs high-powered binoculars to spot Woods on the horizon.That didn't deter Mickelson from offering his customary optimism as he peered toward the year ahead. He had an eventful 2007 -- he dropped swing coach Rick Smith for Butch Harmon, fought through a troublesome wrist injury, didn't contend in any major and still won three times, including his memorable Labor Day showdown with Woods outside Boston.Mickelson said Monday would be his first day of serious practice after an extended break. He sounded hopeful Harmon has helped him conquer his wildness off the tee, even if the statistics suggest he was even wilder last year -- 181st in driving accuracy after finishing 160th in 2006, the year of his epic final hole meltdown at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot."My No. 1 priority was to improve my driving, and that's what I'm most excited about," Mickelson said. "When Butch and I first started working together, I was missing the fairway by 2-to-3 yards instead of 15. Now I'm starting to get those misses in the fairway. I feel like that's the most important area to help me in my quest to do well in majors."One of those majors, the U.S. Open, will be held this year at Torrey Pines, a course where Mickelson played many high-school matches. He and Woods both have thrived at Torrey, though Mickelson knows the USGA could turn the South Course into an absolute monster with thin fairways and gnarly rough."If conditions are the same as at any other course, I believe Torrey Pines is the most difficult course in the country," Mickelson said. "It's 7,600 yards, there are no bail-out areas ... if the USGA does what it normally does, we could see some ridiculous scores."(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)