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Mickelson plans to stay aggressive at World Cup

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico -- Phil Mickelson is scrapping Plan B and will rip his way through the World Cup.

Mickelson struggled with his driver at the Target Challenge last week and said he might hit more irons off the tee.

But he abandoned that idea after getting his first look at the wide fairways of the Vista Vallarta course in Wednesday's practice round for the World Cup.

"I'll be hitting a lot of drivers," Mickelson said. "The fairways are plenty generous, and it's critical to carry the ball a good distance."

Mickelson and David Toms are the top-seeded team in the two-man event, which starts today. The United States has won six of the last 10 World Cups, including victories by the duo of Tiger Woods and David Duval in 1999 and 2000.

Woods is skipping the event. He had a packed schedule in November and December, and he was upset when the Tour changed the rules to mandate that the highest-ranked player from each country play with the next available player in the world rankings.

That would have meant Mickelson would be paired with Woods, who prefers to pick his partner.

"Tiger has played a lot the last month," Mickelson said. "We had talked about it, and I understood the situation. And I felt good about the United States' chances playing with David because we played very well together at the Ryder Cup."

Toms and Mickelson were 2-1-1 in the Ryder Cup.

There are plenty of bunkers on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, many of which are about 275 yards off the tee.

"The way Phil drove it today, long and straight, sets it up well for us," Toms said.

While the Americans are favored, Ireland has the hottest player in Padraig Harrington. Harrington has won three times in the last two months, including last week at the Target Challenge, when he shot a course-record 63 to beat Woods by two shots.

PRO-AM IN DADE CITY: Some 40 PGA Tour pros are scheduled to play in Monday's Lake Jovita Pro-Am Invitational at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club in Dade City.

Among those scheduled to attend are Paul Azinger, Steve Stricker, Robert Damron, Greg Kraft, Garrett Willis, Marco Dawson, Michael Bradley, Tim Petrovic, Mike Hulbert, Pete Jordan, Woody Austin, John Rollins and Glen Hnatiuk.

The format is for two pros to play with two amateurs, and a few amateur spots remain open for $350. The 9 a.m. shotgun start will be followed by lunch, with an afternoon event at 2 for pros only.

For information, call 352-588-9200.

-- Times staff writer Bob Harig contributed to this report.

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