It's Official: Phil Mickelson Hooks Up with Butch Harmon

by Mulligan Stu on Apr 23, 2007 7:58 PM EDT

All the rumors turned out to be true: Phil Mickelson is leaving longtime coach Rick Smith for the warm embrace - and different teaching methods - of Butch Harmon:

Phil Mickelson is changing coaches, saying Monday he will start working with Butch Harmon with hopes of sorting out driver issues that cost him a chance to win the U.S. Open last year at Winged Foot.

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"Butch is one of the very best teachers in the world," Mickelson said in a statement. "He's helped two players rise to No. 1 in the game, and I'm fortunate that he has agreed to spend time working with me on my game, particularly on my driving."

Harmon spent 10 years working with Tiger Woods, starting with him when Woods was an amateur. He retooled Woods' swing after a 12-shot victory in the 1997 Masters, and Woods captured the career Grand Slam at age 24 in 2000, and later became the first player to hold all four professional majors at the same time.

Before that, Harmon was the coach for Greg Norman when he was No. 1 in the world.

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Mickelson and Smith are close friends off the course, and while Mickelson said that relationship would continue, he said it was tough to leave Smith for someone else.

"I feel that now is the time to go in a new direction with Butch Harmon on my long game," Mickelson said. "I went to Rick Smith as a friend and asked for his understanding of this decision and he's been very supportive of it."

No doubt this was a very tough decision for Mickelson, given his close relationship with Smith. But when other close friends such as Fred Couples (who works with Harmon) are whispering in his ear that he'd be better off with Butch, and when he regresses under Smith, well ... Lefty is doing what probably needs to be done.