Phil Mickelson commits to play 2004 Wachovia Championship

BY iseekgolf.com | US PGA Tour | 2004 Wachovia Championship | General | 15 Apr 2004

Phil Mickelson, who captured the Masters in dramatic fashion and jumped into the hearts of millions last Sunday, has officially committed to play the Wachovia Championship and make his first visit to Quail Hollow Club.

Mickelson became only the fourth player in Masters Tournament history to win the title with a putt on the final hole and earned his first major championship. The victory capped a nine-tournament stretch in which the 33-year-old has two victories, a pair of third-place finishes and eight top-tens.

Mickelson, who has 23 PGA TOUR career victories, will continue his spring stretch when he plays in the Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow Club, May 3-9.

“I get to play this great game for a living and most people do that for vacation,” Mickelson said Sunday evening in Augusta. “I am just very lucky to be able to do what I do.”

Much of Mickelson’s success this season is a mixture of patience and hard work on swing changes.

“I think the biggest thing for me was this off-season, spending the number of hours and days with Rick Smith and Dave Pelz to give me direction,” Mickelson said. "When I stand on tee boxes, I just know the ball is going in the fairway and I spent a lot of hours working on getting the yardages correct with wedges.

“I would say when you finally do achieve that goal, the harder the struggle is, the greater the reward.”

The second edition of the Wachovia Championship will again offer a US$5.6 million purse with US$1,008,000 going to the champion. David Toms won the inaugural championship with a 10-under-par 278 total.

Mickelson will be joined at this year’s Wachovia Championship by other major championship winners, including Toms, Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem, John Daly, Davis Love III, Mark Brooks, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Justin Leonard, Lee Janzen, Bernhard Langer, and Curtis Strange.

Source – Wachovia Championship