Mickelson loves the options presented in high altitude

Phil Mickelson has had success playing in the higher altitude as both an amateur and as a professional.

Mickelson posted a 4-under-par 67 Thursday in Mexico City at the WGC-Mexico Championships, a venue some 7,500 feet above sea level.

"You have a greater discrepancy in your irons, a greater ability to hit the ball shorter or longer," Mickelson told the Golf Channel.

The 46-year-old captured the 1990 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado, and was a two-time winner of the now-defunct International - held in the same state.

"The extra spin, when you hit it hard, doesn't have the same type of drag or resistance in the air - like at sea level. The ball soars through the air, so you get a lot more out of it. That bigger difference between irons, I enjoy because it lets my feel and touch be more of an instrument," said Mickelson.