Phelps Picks Up Golf Tips and Shares Experiences From Team U.S.A. MEDINAH, Ill. - Of all Michael Phelps's accomplishments - the 22 Olympic medals, including 18 golds, and the 29 world records - one goal eluded him. He never competed in a world championship or Olympics on American soil. "It's something I would have loved to do," said Phelps, who competed in his first Olympics in Sydney in 2000, four years after the Summer Games were held in Atlanta. On Wednesday, Phelps spent a few minutes in the Medinah clubhouse talking with Davis Love III, the United States Ryder Cup captain, a meeting brokered by Bubba Watson. He also met several of the American players, including Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson (himself a former competitive swimmer), Zach Johnson and Tiger Woods. Phelps shared with Love the thrill of participating in competitions in which the country on the back of your sweat jacket is what matters and not the name on your racing cap. "These guys don't have the chance to come together as a team much and hear the U-S-A chants," Phelps said. And the excitement of it being on American soil, with the Europeans having won six of the last eight Cups, it's going to be so cool. The plan was for Phelps to expand on what he told Love in an address to the United States team before the opening matches Friday. Phelps, who is taking lessons from Woods's former instructor Hank Haney watched Woods on the range Wednesday, and said it was instructive. "Some of the things I've been learning from 'The Haney Project' I could see when I was watching Tiger," Phelps said Thursday during a promotional event with Omega, one of his sponsors. I may not hit good golf shots but I can see what I'm supposed to be doing. The pro-am here represented Phelps' competitive golfing debut. He's headed to Scotland this weekend to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championships at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns armed with a valuable tip he received from one of his playing partners, Hal Sutton. Phelps said Sutton told him that when he was walking from tee to green to imagine he was walking down a hallway and the people lining the gallery ropes on either side are pictures on the wall. "He said to just imagine you're walking by pictures," Phelps said. After he said that, my next shot I hit really well.