The world knows that Phil Mickelson is one of the world’s best – if not THE best – wedge player. Sometimes I think Lefty is a bit overrated as a putter, but there is now denying his prowess with a wedge. The three-time Masters champion used to carry as many five wedges, specifically by taking a gap and sand wedge and creating a “in between’’ club.
These days Mickelson is carrying four wedges but he’s still tinkering with the lofts of his Callaway wedges.
“I have a 64 (degree) and a 60,’’ Mickelson said at this week’s Masters pre-tournament press conference. “I have a strong sand wedge. Which is about 53 1/2, 54 degrees, and then I have a pitching wedge that’s a 47 1/2, 48. So that allows me to add some other clubs longer in the bag.’’
At Augusta National, that generally means carrying a 3-iron.
“Usually at Augusta, I don’t have a hybrid,’’ Mickelson said. “I usually carry a 3-iron. And the reason for that is, if I’m not able to reach the par 5s, like 13 and 15, with a 3-iron or less, I usually don’t want to go for it, anyway. And second, the additional length on No. 4 puts me a lot of times right between clubs, between a 4-iron and sometimes a 3-iron. And so having a 3-iron in the bag at Augusta is what has helped me the last couple of years in some of those in-between shots from 220 to 245 (yards).’’
Phil Mickelson will be shooting for his fourth Masters title in April
