Golf Events / Editor / 04 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson has had a special second driver made to try and tame the Augusta course

The 36-year-old tees off with Australian Adam Scott and Scottish amateur Richie Ramsay on Thursday, looking to add another Green Jacket to his collection, after triumphing in 2004 and 2006.

The Georgia course offers unique challenges and Mickelson feels that his new club will be useful as he tries to negotiate his way round the famous venue.

"It's a driver that I've been working on specifically for the Masters because the length of the golf course is so long that I needed that extra length to combat it," he said.

"We've been working six months on this club for this tournament. I plan on using it a reasonable amount."

Despite the new addition to his bag, 'Lefty' will still be using his old driver whenever the need arises.

"The longer driver, the square-headed one, goes 20 yards longer than my regular one," he added. "When I try to hit little low shots or work around the trees on 10 or 13 I'll use the
regular-shaped driver."

Mickelson has just one tournament success to his name this year, with victory at the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, but his form has dipped in recent weeks and the San Diego-born left-hander admitted it is a worry going into the year's first major.

"I'm a little bit nervous about not being in competition in so long or having been in contention in a while," he added. "That's probably my biggest concern."

Mickelson trades as the 9.4 second favourite to win the title on Sunday with world number one Tiger Woods the 2.68 favourite.

Vijay Singh, the champion in 2000, is on offer at 18.5 with South African Ernie Els trading at 19.

Mickelson is available at 1.92 to win his first-round three-ball encounter with Scott (2.32) and Ramsey (8.6).