Excited Lefty thinks he might finally have answers for St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Even after all these years of playing in the U.K., Phil Mickelson still has trouble with the native tongue.

Phil Mickelson's optimistic about his chances at St. Andrews. (AP)

By way of explanation, he did a rollickingly funny imitation of an indecipherable Scottish burr this week, and admitted that his most commonly used words when speaking to the locals this week have been some combination of, "Huh? What? Eh?"

As an example, Mickelson said he occasionally ventures out into the quaint town of St. Andrews to mix with the locals, but he joked that he has to do it early, before too many beverages get hoisted, synapses misfire and the accents get even thicker.

"The problem is as people have more and more pints, I can't understand them," he laughed. "So I find that, like, 7 to 8:30 is my optimum time."

As for the Old Course at St. Andrews itself, that's a language in which Mickelson believes he can finally become fluent.

All but bounding around the place this week at the 150th anniversary British Open, Mickelson is in highly animated form, giddy with enthusiasm after seemingly having found the magic formula for solving the Home of Golf.

Why is this man smiling?

Good question, given that Mickelson's troubles translating the local dialect absolutely mirrors his inability to solve a career-long, links-course conundrum. In his 16 appearances at the British Open, he has one top 10 finish, and his best performance in three cracks at St. Andrews is a tie for 11th, hardly befitting his status as a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2012. Winning at the Masters in April and finishing third at the U.S. Open in June, well, that's far more like it.

With his considerable gift for ad-libbing on the fly, it's hard to fathom how the four-time major winner has had such trouble ironing out the kinks of the links game, where spontaneity in shot-making reigns.

"I don't know if all the courses that we play are as versatile as this [one]," Mickelson explained. "A lot of them are one-dimensional, take the driver out of your hands and don't give you as many options. I think that's why I've come to love St. Andrews so much and look forward to when the Open is played here."

Lefty being Lefty -- one of the most aggressive elite players of recent times -- has a new game plan that might raise a few eyebrows, depending on if he really puts the pedal to the mettle, so to speak.

Mickelson denied that he was going to attempt to bomb the course into submission, but he then spent several colorful minutes chattering about how the Old Course gives players plenty of room to roam. For those who might have forgotten, that's why he loves Augusta National, where he has won three times -- he admittedly swings as hard as he can on the tee shots at the Masters.

It will make for a colorful, careening subplot if Mickelson, who can climb to world No. 1 this week by finishing in the top four depending on how Tiger Woods plays, reaches for the big stick as often as he indicated he might.

"It's just that on a number of holes, there's a plenty of room where with the driver, it doesn't pinch in like a lot of holes do," he said excitedly. "There will be a hole, like No. 2, where you can hit driver, but I may hit 3 wood to stay short of that bunker on the left."

He's just getting warmed up.

"You'll have an option. There's never a point where it just bottlenecks. Very rarely is there a hole like No. 7 where there's a bunker in the middle of the fairway. Other than that you can hit driver."

Just a hunch, but based on his body language, it sounds like he might do just that.

"I haven't done a big study, but I do take note of what's gone on, and the last three winners here have been Tiger, Tiger and Daly, and they've been the longest players in the game at that time," he said.

Hint, hint. Mickelson, by the way, presently ranks No. 7 in driving distance. Hard to envision that Lefty, who has done some decidedly off things at majors in the past -- using two drivers at the Masters and no drivers at a U.S. Open –- will be taking the cautious route.

Mickelson has rarely, if ever, seemed this chipper while standing this close to his personal shredder. Only once has he contended over the years at the British, when he finished third at Troon in 2004. Yet his anticipation this week was palpable. He has all but dived into the adjoining North Sea to soak up the atmosphere.

"The reason why you can sense that is because I am having a great time," he said. "I just love coming to St. Andrews. I love playing -- this is my third practice round. I don't play that many practice rounds in a major, but I just love being on the golf course at St. Andrews and playing it.

"I'm excited about the championship. I can't wait for Thursday."