Verdi's Views: Phil leading the U.S. on and off the course

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Phil Mickelson's game has helped the U.S. to a 7-5 lead, and his personality is keeping everyone relaxed.

Bob Verdi, one of the most respected sports writers in the United States, is on site at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia filing stories for PGATOUR.COM to give fans an inside look at the competition, teams, players and captains, as well as the unique setting of the Sand Belt courses in Victoria.

Verdi joined the Chicago Tribune in 1967 covering hockey and baseball. He gradually moved his expertise and skills as a columnist into golf and wrote full-time for the newspaper through 1997. He joined Golf Digest and Golf World as a senior writer in 1997. Currently, Verdi is a member of the Chicago Blackhawks' front office, serving as team historian.

Verdi has covered all eight previous Presidents Cup, including those in Australia (1998), South Africa (2003) and Canada (2007). Verdi will rely on his decades-long relationships with many of the players -- as well as team Captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples -- to focus on the players and personalities of The Presidents Cup and present stories from the event in his individual and iconic style.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- If it feels as though Phil Mickelson has been partaking of these group outings forever, well, you could look it up. This ongoing Presidents Cup is his 17th consecutive appearance for a United States team, and the more he plays, the merrier he seems.

More from Bob Verdi

Click here to access the archive page of Bob Verdi columns from Royal Melbourne.

On Friday, Mickelson and genetically steady Jim Furyk registered their second victory at Royal Melbourne, a 2 and 1 decision over Adam Scott and K.T. Kim in a fourballs match that contributed to the Americans' 7-5 advantage entering Saturday's schedule against the Internationals, a marathon dawn-to-dusk agenda.

Not that Friday was a breeze. It was actually a fiery gale that roared in from the northwest, baking greens already harder than the "New York Times" crossword puzzle. A bad hair day, indeed, which reminds one of the tale via Lee Trevino, whose low-trajectory approaches were repeatedly repelled here during a '70s visit. Trevino immediately identified three bald members in the gallery as club members. They asked, how did he know? Because if you putt these greens all the time, Trevino barked, you have to lose your hair.

"Crazy tough conditions," said Mickelson, whose resume includes nine Presidents Cups, a record, along with eight Ryder Cups. He's been everywhere, from Augusta National to St. Andrews, and recently got voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. "But I've never seen anything quite like today. Greens were running at speeds up to 14, with gusts up to 30. You actually had to read the wind on the putts."

Royal Melbourne is a course on which you might use every club in your bag. You just don't want to use them all on the same hole. Friday's weather was so treacherous that few three-footers were conceded because inside-the-leather meant nothing. If your golf balls weren't oscillating, your eye balls were. Rules officials didn't carry a clock. They carried a sun dial. Mickelson's foursome took four hours to go 12 holes. But such was the pace everywhere, and these guys are the best. For ordinary golfers, it might been 12 hours to go four holes. Brutal.

Regardless, Mickelson reveled in every minute. Not just because he won, not just because wife Amy is here, and not just because they won't have to fly commercial back home for Thanksgiving in San Diego (His private jet, Air Phil, will handle seat assignments). No, it's just that Mickelson, not unlike Tiger Woods, has embraced team competitions as annuities for memories.

"I always enjoyed them," said Mickelson. "After all, most of us guys who went to college, that's what we miss most about school, being part of a team. But as the years have gone on, I realize, when you look back, you're going to think about majors you've won, of course, and other tournaments that meant a lot to you. But you're also going to cherish friendships that last a lifetime, and that's what these events are all about.

"Lately, as an older player, I've been paired up with rookies or younger guys in team competition. But we've got a bunch of kids on this team, Webb Simpson and Bill Haas and Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar, who don't need a whole lot of mentoring. Our captain, Fred Couples, has seen that and let them go. So Jim and I hooked up, which we've talked about before, and we complement each other pretty well. Man can make some putts."

Mickelson is famously vocal in male bonding situations, sarcasm being his preferred mode of communication. Without fail, his energy and humor create positive vibes during meals, bus rides, or skull sessions. He is serious about his job, yet just as devoted to having fun.

"You ask Michael Jordan who our most valuable player was in San Francisco," said Couples, referring to the Americans' conquest two Octobers ago. "Tiger played fabulous. But for keeping guys loose and in a relaxed mood, Michael will tell you Phil was our MVP."

Ah, but there's trouble brewing. Mickelson has met his equal, or so he frets.

"Matt Kuchar," he said. "He's killing me. Not only can't I handle him in ping-pong, but he talks trash with the best of them. I mean, he is non-stop."

Honesty compels Kuchar to concur with Mickelson's accusations.

"Look, the first day we're here, he gets on the bus to the golf course and starts wearing people out," said Kuchar. "What are we supposed to do? Just sit there and take it? Somebody's got to step up to the plate against Phil."

How long has it been since the left-hander debuted for the USA? The commitment began in 1994 during the first Presidents Cup at Robert Trent Jones GC in Virginia. Amy was a senior at Arizona State, she was dating Mickelson and desperately wanted to attend the event. She was studying broadcast journalism, and her professor obviously cared zero about golf.

"He said I couldn't miss class," Amy recalled. "I told him I was going to the Presidents Cup. He said, OK, if I go, I would have to interview the President. Or else. I knew that wasn't going to happen, but when I got to Washington, I ran into Freddie, who was playing with the team. I was petrified. But he was nice enough to let me do interviews with him. When I went back to college, I used them in that class. I got an 'A.'"

Despite studying journalism, Amy is all good. She and Phil recently celebrated their 15th anniversary. She's been fighting breast cancer, and she is winning. Phil is playing in another team competition with another new partner, and he's winning too. The myth is being shattered about how Tiger and Phil won't walk across the street to play unless there's a paycheck on the other side. When Furyk closed it out Friday with a 15-footer for birdie on No. 17, Mickelson broke into a Christmas morning smile.

"We are having a blast," said Phil. "I loved Melbourne and this course in 1998, even though we got drummed. It's great to be back and playing with Jim. He's been a big help to me, but we've got a long way to go. The Internationals will come after us Saturday."

Probably, however, not before Kuchar goes after Mickelson on the bus.