Kicking off Asia swing, Mickelson relishes golf's Olympic future

SINGAPORE (PA) -- Golf's inclusion in the Olympic Games "is the greatest thing to happen to the sport," according to world No. 2 Phil Mickelson.

Golf, which was played at the 1900 Paris Olympics and 1904 Games in St. Louis, will be included in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, along with rugby sevens.

"Everybody that I have talked to is excited about golf becoming an Olympic sport. It is the greatest thing to happen to our sport; it will allow the growth of the game on a global level," said three-time major winner Mickelson ahead of this week's Barclays Singapore Open, part of a two-week Asia trip for him.

"And with the Olympic foundations in all the countries in the world, I believe we will have a lot of money put towards the growth of the game in terms of educating juniors and teaching juniors proper fundamentals," he added. "I think the game of golf will finally get the recognition it deserves."

Mickelson, 39, took part in a promotional video alongside Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els and world No. 1 Tiger Woods, while European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington have since welcomed the move.

Darren Clarke has expressed his dissatisfaction over the decision insisting the Olympics should be reserved for amateur events, although he admitted he would take the opportunity to play if it came his way.

At the Olympics, fields of 60 men and 60 women will compete over a traditional 72 hole stroke play tournament with the top 15 players in the world qualifying automatically.

Mickelson also said he is confident of continuing his recent good form as he looks to end a turbulent year on a high.

After finishing second at June's U.S. Open, Mickelson took a six-week break after his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer just over a month after his wife received the same news.

He returned at August's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and, after struggling through the PGA Championship, improved throughout the FedExCup playoff series and claimed the season-ending Tour Championship.

Mickelson then remained unbeaten as the United States won the Presidents Cup and arrived in Singapore this week, where he led heading into the final round last year before being forced to settle for ninth, looking to make a solid start to his end-of-year Asian swing, which also includes next week's HSBC Champions in Shanghai -- now a World Golf Championships event.

"It has been an interesting year. The last few weeks I have started to play well. I played well in the Presidents Cup and I played well in The Tour Championship," he said. "But I have had some interesting things going on in the year that made this year unique.

"Fortunately, I have started to play well towards the end. Looking back, having won three times in the U.S., I feel as though it has been an okay year," he added. "I would liked to have had a victory in the majors.

"I felt like in the Masters and the U.S. Open I had great opportunities and didn't pull them through," he said. "I now want to finish the year strongly and continue the play that I have had in my last two events, I want to carry that play over into Asia."

Mickelson puts his recent form down to finding a new-found faith with his putter after working with two-time PGA Championship winner and former U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Dave Stockton.

"Since I have been working with Butch Harmon, I have been striking the ball better than I ever have and more confidently than I have ever and driving the ball longer and straighter than I ever have," he added.

"But I have not had the scores as my performance on the greens has been as bad as it has been in my career over the last two years," he explained. "I have had some good weeks spread out and won some tournaments, but it hasn't been at a consistent level I expect."

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