Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson take new approach to The Players Championship

Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, but for that one high score on each golfer’s scorecard last week, could have at least been in on Sunday’s sudden-death playoff at Quail Hollow, let alone atop the scoreboard after 72 holes.

While the two stars had to settle for a four-way tie for fourth as James Hahn beat Roberto Castro in one extra frame, both head to The Players Championship inspired by their matching 66s to end the Wells Fargo Championship.

“It’s been a good week in terms of I know what I need to work on, and I know the things that I am working on seem to be clicking nicely,” McIlroy told reporters after he tried to shake off the rust in his first PGA Tour event since the Masters.

McIlroy, who turned 27 last week, had problems on Quail Hollow’s closing hole, beginning with a double-bogey 6 in Thursday’s opening round and adding a par and two bogeys (including one at the last in Sunday’s finale) the rest of the way. It was a grind-it-out 73-69-73-66 that ended on a high note for the world No. 3.

“I’m pretty confident going into the next couple weeks,” said McIlroy, whose best TPC finish in six appearances was a T6 in 2014 to go with three missed cuts (2009, 2010, 2012). “I feel like after a run like this I can go into Sawgrass and be pretty confident with where my game’s at.”

Where McIlroy’s game’s at is something of a mystery. He has four top-10 finishes and a missed cut (at the Honda Classic) in 2016, but it’s the one speed bump round in several tilts that are most concerning:

Despite the recent history, McIlroy believes his game is on the upswing, even if he did not exactly boost himself as the winner of this week’s clash.

“There’s other things that aren’t quite where I want them to be and I feel like just a slight tweak here and there, we’ll be able to go into this stretch of golf and ultimately into the U.S. Open in really good form,” he said. “But I’ve seen enough positive signs this week to know like I’m on the right track, and obviously ending the week playing the way I did today gives me a lot of confidence going into these next few weeks.”

As for Mickelson, 2016 has been a year of resurgence for the 45-year-old, who has four top 10s in 11 starts, including a second-place finish at Pebble Beach and a third (CareerBuilder Challenge). Off to his best season since 2013, Mickelson rebounded nicely from a quadruple-bogey 8 on No. 18 on Saturday that knocked him out of contention by carding a final-round 66 that included a par on the finishing hole.

“I played well today and I’m happy to have come back after yesterday’s eight on the last to shoot a good round,” said Mickelson, who has not exactly lit up the tournament he’ll play starting on Thursday. “I played really well today and it feels good. I’ll take a little momentum heading into next week.”

The 42-time tour winner did prevail at The Players in 2007, but owns just two additional top 10s and seven missed cuts in the 22 times he has teed it up at Sawgrass, the home of narrow fairways and postage stamp-sized putting surfaces. He is coming off three consecutive early exits from The Players.

“I’ve struggled on that golf course over the years. It’s a very difficult course to recover. To recover off the tee is very challenging because the penalties are so severe,” said Mickelson, who recognized he must improve significantly on his 22 of 56 fairways and 44 of 72 greens hit in regulation last week.

“I’m going to have to play a little bit more defensive around The Players because off the tee you’ve got to keep it in play, and around the greens you just want to get on the greens and they’re so small,” Mickelson said. “So the ability to recover like I did this week where I missed the ball a lot of times in the right spot, salvaged pars, you can’t really do that next week.”

McIlroy agreed.

“I finally accepted that I can’t hit driver as much as I would like there. I’ve always felt that it was a golf course that handcuffed me a little bit,” he said. “The things that give me an advantage over some of the field, you know, they don’t really give me an advantage there.”

Characterizing himself as “quite stubborn” the first few years he played Sawgrass, McIlroy said he has accepted the reality that he can’t outslug the frustrating venue or the field.

“I’m going to have to play the course the way everyone else plays it. If I’m going to beat them, I have to beat them with approach shots and good wedge play and putting,” he said. “I’ve learned to at least like the place for that week and accept this is the way I have to play, and the last couple years it’s paid off somewhat for me, at least I’ve improved, and hopefully this year I can go there and improve a little bit again.”

Lefty, for his part, has won at Sawgrass, a W he prizes almost as much as another improbable triumph on his resume.

“For me to have won that tournament, it means a lot to me,” he said. “It’s just underneath The Open Championship as far as surprise victories in my career.”

Of course, it’s not just Rory vs. Phil at TPC Sawgrass. The Players, referred to by many as the “fifth major,” may not actually be among the four most prestigious contests, but it’s certainly up there among the elite events the men play and attracts the best of the best. Indeed, in a recent Golf.com anonymous survey of tour players, 62 percent of those polled said they would rather win The Players than a gold medal at the Olympics.

That’s why McIlroy and Mickelson will have to keep clawing their way up the leaderboard if they’re to remain relevant among the the who’s who of those -- like Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, defending champion Rickie Fowler, et al -- who have legitimate chances of winning the week.

Mickelson believes he’s up to the task.

“Today’s round gives me a little bit of momentum heading into The Players and a little bit of a momentum boost,” he said. “I’m excited about playing and competing, my game feels like it’s very close. I had a really good week as far as ball striking. On the weekend I started to drive it much better.

“And my putting feels really good, I had a good putting week,” Mickelson added. “So I’m looking forward to getting there next week.”