PGATOUR.COM - Mickelson trying to find some old magic at Firestone

AKRON, Ohio -- Of the three World Golf Championships, the Bridgestone Invitational would appear to be the one in which Phil Mickelson is most likely to succeed.

After all, he won the 1996 NEC World Series of Golf contested at Firestone Country Club and finished second the next two years. So it was a no-brainer to expect Mickelson to prosper when the World Golf Championships took center stage in Akron in 1999.

For the first four years, the big-hitting lefty did contend -- finishing second to Tiger Woods in 1999 and posting top-10 finishes in each of the next three years. But it's the preemptive No. 1, not Mickelson, who has gone on to dominate with six Firestone wins.

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Phil Mickelson won the NEC World Series of Golf at Firestone in 1996.

Phil Mickelson

Bridgestone Inv. results

Year	Finish	Score to par
2007	T-46	+13
2006	T-54	+9
2005	T-51	+10
2004	T-43	+5
2003	T-23	+1
2002	T-9	-7
2001	T-8	-5
2000	T-4	-9
1999	2	-9

Not to mention, Jim Furyk, who has six top-10s at Firestone, and 2004 champion Stewart Cink, who was second in 2006, have asserted themselves while Mickelson's best finish in the last five years is a tie for 23rd. And he's at a loss to explain his lack of success of late.

"This is one of my favorite tournaments," Mickelson said. "It has been historically throughout my career. I love the way the course is set up. ... I have not played as well as I would have liked to in this event the last few years, and I'm determined to try to change that this week."

Fresh off a nine-hole practice round on a course he said was set up "immaculately" and a day removed from a tour of Oakland Hills, which will host the PGA Championship next week, Mickelson pondered the short-game deficiencies he feels have lately held him back.

Mickelson, who is the highest-ranked player at Firestone at No. 2 in the world, already has two victories in 2008, bringing his career total to 34. Since winning the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May, though, he hasn't finished higher than 18th in three starts.

Short-game guru Dave Pelz was at Mickelson's side on Monday and Tuesday, and Lefty feels comfortable the work they did has him back on track. Just as Butch Harmon has given Mickelson renewed confidence with his driver and a tighter, more compact swing.

"I don't know. I don't know," Mickelson responded when someone asked what happened to his short game. "Maybe more time on ball striking, what have you. But I feel pretty good about it now, so I expect to do well around the greens.

"And the way the course is set up, there's a lot of skill involved around the greens now because you can hit shots out of the rough and from off the edges. It's a great setup."

Although he plans no major adjustments this week, Mickelson has been known to tinker with the 14 clubs in his bag. One year he used two different drivers at the Masters. During the first two rounds of this year's U.S. Open, he carried five wedges but left the driver at home.

Sometimes, those decisions are borne of gut instinct. Or Mickelson will play a course and discover he hasn't used a certain club. And then there's that computer program Pelz, a former NASA scientist, created to identify which element of the game is most important on any given week.

"This is an interesting statistic, I think, that I've found is that if you increase any statistical category 10 percent across the board, it lowers scores," Mickelson said. "Okay, 10 percent fewer putts, obviously lower scores, 10 percent more greens, 10 percent closer to the hole, 10 percent more fairways -- every one lowers scores except longer driving distance.

"Longer drives does not equate to lower scores on any course in America except one. There's one golf course in America where 10 percent longer driving equates to lower scores, and what would you think it would be? Augusta National.

"So we'll do stuff like that. That will be fun and interesting and a different perspective."

Mickelson has only played twice in the previous eight weeks, tying for 18th at the U.S. Open and 19th in Royal Birkdale. He plans to step up his schedule over the next two months, though, and his enthusiasm was palpable on Wednesday.

"We have a great finish for the season," Mickelson said. "I'm excited about it. I've got a new found energy for the end of the season. I've been practicing hard, and I'm excited. I love all of these tournaments. I love the golf course here in Akron. I love the PGA Championship. Oakland Hills is such a great track.

"I love the old Ridgewood course that we're playing The Barclays at (and) I obviously have a bias to Deutsche Bank (Championship) being at such a great golf course that I won at last year. And we've got a great finish there. We've got the Ryder Cup and two more great FedExCup events. So all these events are just huge finishing the year, and I'm excited."