If you’re looking to match Phil Mickelson’s prowess with chip shots, you better be prepared to practice a lot. According to a recent interview with the four-time major champion, Phil Mickelson hits over 1,500 wedge shots throughout his weekly practice routine.
“I like doing it (practice routine) either in my yard at home where I built a practice facility or some of the local clubs or when I’m on the road at a different club. But I practice flying my wedges to a specific yardage three days a week.” said Phil Mickelson. “I hit over 1,500 golf balls and try to fly it within a yard or hit a target, and, for the most part, I’m able to fly it within a yard 90% of the time.”
“So the fact that it landed close to the hole (last year at the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open), it was supposed to. I mean, I work at that. That’s what I practice. It’s not an accident that my wedge game is what it is, because I sit there and work on it. I just don’t do it out here for everybody to see.”
According to Phil Mickelson, he hits the pin with a wedge about a dozen times a year, which often causes a worse result than not hitting the pin. “(Short-game guru Dave) Pelz wants me to have the pin removed on every wedge shot, which I won’t do because it just looks bad. But the fact is that I hit the pin a dozen times a year, and probably 11 out of those 12, the ball ends up in a worse spot because of it. So two things. I wanted to give it two chances to get in. One, trying to fly it in, and two, trying to back it up back into the hole, and it came close. It didn’t go in, so what does it matter, but it came close.”
