Phil Mickelson picks Houston over Phoenix as final Masters prep site

Phil Mickelson has committed to the next week’s Vivint Houston Open, the final PGA Tour event before the November Masters.

Mickelson was openly debating whether to play in Houston or head to Phoenix Country Club, where the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the PGA Tour Champions schedule will be played.

After finishing 76th in the 77-man field at last week’s Zozo Championship, Mickelson expressed some concern, despite the PGA Tour’s highly successful protocols to deal with COVID-19, about the Houston Open’s decision to allow 2,000 fans per day on site.

“I’ll see what course is best to get ready and I’ll do that,” he said on Sunday. “But this week I’ll take to work on a couple of things and, you know, see if I can get my game sharper. I need to be much more disciplined out here. Obviously, I’m making way too many mistakes and big numbers and penalty strokes and so forth, and the Champions Tour is a little bit more forgiving, you can recover a little bit easier, pins aren’t as penalizing.

“So I certainly enjoy that style of play because I can play aggressive and it’s more comparable to the way Augusta is because Augusta allows you to recover a number of times if you hit less‑than‑perfect shots.”

But Mickelson ultimately decided on Houston, where the PGA Tour is returning to Memorial Park Golf Course for the first time since 1963.

Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland and Keegan Bradley are also among those committing to the event in Houston.

Meanwhile, John Daly, Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Tom Lehman and Mike Weir are in the field for the Schwab.

The Schwab tournament is closed to fans, although tournament officials are making about 350 daily tickets available to Phoenix Country Club members and sponsors.