Ryder Cup veteran Phil Mickelson has no qualms about resurrecting his disastrous partnership with Tiger Woods at Le Golf National this week.
There are very few – if any – observers who believe pairing the two together again is a wise move after the experiment at Oakland Hills in 2004 was abandoned after it brought no points on day one.
Woods appears more likely to play alongside the steadier Bryson DeChambeau but Mickelson was nevertheless asked about whether he would be prepared to give it another go.
“I think we would both welcome it. I think we would both welcome it,” said Mickelson, repeating himself as if to emphasise the point.
He added, to laughter in the room: “I do have an idea of what captain (Jim) Furyk is thinking, yeah.”
Asked why this time around what would be different should Jim Furyk make the bold decision, Mickelson was at pains to stress he did not want to re-open old wounds on the problems of the past.
The left-hander, of course, has previous in the Ryder Cup for calling out the tactics of former captain Tom Watson in the immediate aftermath of the defeat at Gleneagles four years ago.
“When we go over like little details as to why we were or weren’t successful, when I talk about it openly and try to share insight, sometimes it comes across as though I’m trying to take a shot at somebody, and I don’t want to do that… any more.
“The bottom line is going to be preparation. When we can eliminate the variables, eliminate the uncertainties, it eliminates the pressure.
“So the more questions we have answered well before the Ryder Cup, the more prepared we are and the more time we have to prepare our games the week of the Ryder Cup.”
Mickelson is appearing in his 12th Ryder Cup and, by his own admission, his last on European soil.
He has three victories in that time but has not won away from home. In fact the United States team have not won a Ryder Cup in Europe since 1993.
“You would think that you would get kind of desensitised to it but I have come to love and cherish being a part of these weeks even more,” he said.
“But because I’ve played in these events for so long and have never won over here, it would be one of the moments I would cherish the most if we were able to come out on top.
“It would be something that I would remember and cherish for the rest of my life.
“I am aware this is most likely the last one on European soil and my last opportunity to be part of a team that would be victorious here and that would mean a lot to me personally.
“I think it would mean a lot to our team and to the United States Ryder Cup to have a victory on foreign soil. It’s been 25 years.”
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