Mickelson kissed new driver

• By Jason Sobel
• Feb 1, 2013 9:14 PM ET

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Phil Mickelson has been talking all week about how much he loves his new driver. On Friday, he sealed that love with a kiss.

On Friday, after belting a drive on TPC-Scottsdale’s 10th hole 319 yards down the right-center of the fairway, Mickelson put the club to his lips and gave it a smooch.

“I gave it a little peck, yeah. I gave it a little kiss,” he said sheepishly. “You saw today, I didn't miss a fairway until 18 – and even that was right on the edge, because I count first cuts. I had four first cuts, but I count those as fairways. The ease with which I feel I can hit it and the misses, how minuscule they are, that drive [on 10] has always been difficult to take it over those bunkers. I've been out of bounds on the range to the right, I've been in the desert left, and I stood up and just hit the easiest little high draw over that bunker around the corner into the middle of the fairway, and it just felt easy to do.

“I'm really ecstatic about the way I'm driving it this week but also about the long-term effects that this driver can have.”

Mickelson first tested Callaway’s RAZR Fit Xtreme driver on the driving range Tuesday and immediately put it in his bag.

The club is obviously working, as he owns a four-stroke lead going into the weekend after opening scores of 60-65.