Mickelson heads depleted Scottish Open field

LUSS, Scotland The Scottish Open has this year lost some of its chief attractions as the warmup event before the British Open.

Only one player from the top 10 in the world has entered the $4 million event which starts at the exclusive Loch Lomond resort Thursday.

However, the fact that it is the American left hander Phil Mickelson, the winner of this year?s Masters, is significant.

Mickelson says that ``the best way to get in playing condition for The Open is to play well, get into contention and compete on Sunday for the title here.''

A win could also see Mickelson climb above Tiger Woods to No. 1 in the world going into the third major of 2010 at St. Andrews.