Major preparation for Mickelson in title defence

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Players Championship is widely regarded as the unofficial fifth major and Phil Mickelson has given it grand slam treatment while preparing for his title defence this week at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida.

"It will be the same as other majors for me," the American world number two told reporters in the build-up for the prestigious PGA Tour event that attracts one of the strongest fields of the year.

"I'll usually take Monday off at a major, I'll play a practice round early Tuesday and Wednesday I'll go off site and get work done on areas of my game that need improvement."

Left-hander Mickelson, who won last year's title at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass by two shots, expects a typically tough challenge in firm and fast conditions.

The main difference for the players will be the rough which will exceed the two-inch depth from 12 months ago.

"I don't know exactly how the course will be set up but I would guess it would be similar to what we saw last year," Mickelson said.

"The whole point of moving the tournament back into May was to have firmer, faster conditions and not have as thick rough around the greens where you couldn't recover with short game shots as in years past."

Last year's Players Championship was the first to be held in May after the event was pushed back from its traditional date in late March.