Mickelson's driver will get plenty of work in 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 Thursday. 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 this year. He had a packed schedule in November and December, and he also was upset when the PGA Tour changed the World Cup 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 own 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. I felt we're every bit as good a team as if Tiger and I had played together."

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

Toms said his more conservative style of play compliments Mickelson's aggressiveness.

"I'm a steady player and he likes to go for it," Toms said.

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. "Especially the par 5s.

Mickelson and Toms drew the largest gallery in Wednesday's practice round, and Mickelson tested his Spanish with Mexican reporters.

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

Harrington's partner is Paul McGinley, best remembered as the Ryder Cup rookie whose 8-foot par putt clinched the Europeans' largest margin of victory in 17 years.