Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson, an influential figure in professional golf, is known for his remarkable career and distinctive left-handed swing. Born into a sports-loving family, Mickelson was introduced to golf at an exceptionally young age, receiving his first club at three months and playing his first round by three years old. His early talent was nurtured through rigorous practice and competition, leading him to a successful junior career in San Diego and later a scholarship at Arizona State University, where he excelled in collegiate golf.
Turning professional in 1992, Mickelson quickly made a name for himself on the PGA Tour, winning his first tournament in 1993. Over the years, he became famous for his daring short game and has achieved significant milestones, including winning multiple major championships, notably The Masters and the PGA Championship. Despite some early struggles in major tournaments, Mickelson finally secured his first major title in 2004. His career has been marked by both triumphs and controversies, including a notable transition to the LIV Golf tour in 2022, which stirred debate among fans and fellow golfers alike.
Beyond his golfing accomplishments, Mickelson is also a skilled pilot and author. To date, he holds forty-five PGA Tour wins, ranking among the top left-handed golfers in history. His contributions to the sport and the ongoing discussions around LIV Golf highlight his lasting impact on professional golf.
Phil Mickelson
Golfer
- Born: June 16, 1970
- Place of Birth: San Diego, California
SPORT: Golf
Early Life
Philip Alfred Mickelson seemed destined to play golf. He was born into a family with an enthusiasm for sports, and his birth announcement depicted a baby in diapers with a golf bag slung over his shoulder. Mickelson’s father, Phil Sr., was an accomplished amateur golfer, and his mother, Mary, won a number of gold medals as a member of the US Senior Olympics basketball team. At the age of three months, Mickelson received his first golf club; by eighteen months, he was swinging it in the backyard. Although Mickelson was a natural right-hander in everything except golf, he developed his signature left-handed swing by facing and mimicking his father. As a child, Mickelson honed his golf game in his family’s large suburban backyard that his father transformed into a training ground equipped with a regulation putting green and sand trap. At three years old, Mickelson played his first complete round of golf, and he earned his first trophy at the age of four when he won a local putting contest. By the age of five, he was competing in local tournaments and had announced to his family that he wanted to be a golfer when he grew up. At seven years old, Mickelson scored his first birdie and played a below-par round at his local course. In 1980, when he was only ten years old, he beat his father for the first time.
The Road to Excellence
In 1981, Mickelson began playing on the San Diego junior golf circuit and soon emerged as one of the most gifted young golfers in Southern California. At the age of fourteen, he began working with Coach Dean Reinmuth, a partnership that lasted into Mickelson's professional career. By high school, Mickelson had quit playing other sports and focused solely on golf. Attending the prestigious University of San Diego High School, Mickelson had a stellar junior golf career. He won sixteen junior events in the San Diego area, captured twelve American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) tournaments, and earned three Rolex National Player of the Year awards (1986–1988).
Mickelson's success in the AJGA earned him a golf scholarship at Arizona State University. Coached by Steve Loy, Mickelson dominated the collegiate ranks as a Sun Devil. He won sixteen collegiate tournaments, won National Collegiate Athletic Association individual championships in 1989, 1990, and 1992, and was a first-team all-American all four years. While still a collegiate player, he captured the 1990 US Amateur Championship, and as an amateur in 1991, he won the Northern Telecom Open, a PGA tournament.
The Emerging Champion
In 1992, Mickelson turned professional after graduating with a psychology degree from Arizona State University. Teamed with caddy Jim “Bones” Mackay, Mickelson struggled through his first year on the tour, missing the cut in nine out of seventeen tournaments. In 1993, however, he proved that his stellar junior career was not a fluke when he won two PGA events. His first professional victory, the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego, was held at the course on which he had played so many times as a junior golfer.
Mickelson eventually became one of the most accomplished players on the PGA Tour. Beginning in 1996, he was ranked no lower than fifteenth in the World Golf Rankings, and he finished in second three times, behind Tiger Woods. Known for his aggressive and daring short game, especially his famous “Phil Flop” shot, Mickelson won at least one tournament each year between 1993 and 1998, including four wins in the 1996 campaign. After going winless in 1999, he bounced back with four wins in 2000. Other than a second winless season in 2003, he won at least two tournaments each year through 2013.
Continuing the Story
Despite Mickelson's success on the tour, he had struggled in the major tournaments. While he was called “Lefty” as a term of endearment by the media, he also began to be known as the “best golfer to have never won a major.” He had come close to victory several times. Between 1994 and 2003, he posted eight second- or third-place finishes in major tournaments. Finally, in 2004, he drained a 20-foot birdie on the eighteenth hole in the final round of The Masters to defeat Ernie Els for his first win in a major. He followed the 2004 Masters victory with a 2005 win at the PGA Championship and another win at The Masters in 2006. He nearly captured a fourth major at the 2006 US Open, but a final-hole collapse cost him the tournament. Mickelson represented the United States in numerous international competitions. As an amateur, he twice played in the Walker Cup; as a professional, he played on ten Ryder Cup teams and eleven Presidents Cups. In 2008, with Tiger Woods injured, Mickelson helped recapture the Ryder Cup for the United States. He added to his list of major championships in 2010, with another Masters title, and 2013, winning the British Open for the first time.
After a winless season in 2014, and placing only second in a few major competitions the following seasons, Mickelson placed first at the WGC-Mexico Championship in 2018. The same year, Mickelson played in a televised one-on-one match against Woods. Competing for $9 million, the golfers played extra holes, with Mickelson breaking the tie on the twenty-second hole.
Upon his win at the 2021 PGA Championship in South Carolina, the fifty-year-old Mickelson became the oldest professional golfer on the PGA Tour to win a major championship. Then, in 2022, Mickelson announced his support for the Saudi Arabian LIV Golf tour, a controversial competitor to the PGA Tour. After losing several sponsors, Mickelson withdrew from both the 2022 Masters and the 2022 PGA Championship before announcing in June of that year that he had joined LIV Golf and would play in its inaugural event later that month. Mickelson and the sixteen other golfers who had joined the LIV event were then suspended by the PGA Tour, who later announced that any professional golfer who joins LIV would forsake their PGA membership.
In the 2023 Masters Tournament, Mickelson shot a 65 and finished tied for second place. Despite not winning, his game was highly regarded as he started the final day ten shots off the lead and was able to bounce back, scoring five birdies and two pars in the last seven holes.
Beyond golf, Phil became an accomplished pilot and writer. He flew himself to golf tournaments, and after winning the 2004 Masters, he coauthored, with Donald T. Phillips, One Magical Sunday (But Winning Isn’t Everything), a combination autobiography and account of his experience in winning the 2004 Masters. He and his wife, Amy, had three children: Amanda, Sophia, and Evan. Phil’s older sister, Tina, was a PGA professional, and his younger brother, Tim, coached the golf team at the University of San Diego. In 2012, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Summary
As of 2024, Phil Mickelson’s forty-five PGA Tour wins ranked eighth (tied with Walter Hagen) on the all-time list, making him the most accomplished left-handed golfer in history. Mickelson's decision to join LIV Golf was both scandalous among fans of the sport and fellow professional golfers, leading many pros to either defend the PGA Tour or follow in Mickelson's footsteps and join LIV. When the PGA renegotiated many of its terms to be more player-friendly in the summer of 2022 after more players announced their departure for LIV, Mickelson was widely credited with being the instigator of change.
Bibliography
Daniel, P. K. The Best Golfers of All Time. Minneapolis: Abdo, 2015. Print.
Hartman, Robert. Leonard, Duval, Woods, and Mickelson: Masters of the Millennium—The Next Generation of the PGA Tour. Champaign: Sports, 1999. Print.
Magee, David. Endurance: Winning Life’s Majors the Phil Mickelson Way. Hoboken: Wiley, 2005.Print.
Mickelson, Phil, with Donald T. Phillps. One Magical Sunday (But Winning Isn’t Everything). New York: Warner, 2005. Print.
Mickelson, Phil, Guy Yocom, and T. R. Reinman. Secrets of the Short Game. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. Print.
Piastowski, Nick, and Jessica Marksbury. “What Does Phil Mickelson Think His Legacy Will Be? He's Hoping It's 1 Thing.” Golf Magazine, 24 June 2024, golf.com/news/what-phil-mickelson-legacy-hoping-1-thing/. Accessed 28 June 2024.
Schlabach, Mark, and Tom VanHaaren. "Inside How Phil Mickelson's Challenge of the PGA Tour Backfired So Quickly and What Comes Next." ESPN, 24 Feb. 2022, www.espn.com/golf/story/‗/id/33354910/this-was-failed-coup-how-phil-mickelson-challenge-pga-tour-backfired-quickly-comes-next. Accessed 9 Sept. 2022.
Shipnuck, Alan. “Lefty Gets It Right: Phil Mickelson Is Striking the Ball Better than Ever, as Evidenced by His Players Win.” Sports Illustrated 106.21 (2007): 48. Print.
Shipnuck, Alan. “Master Craftsman: The Way Phil Mickelson Won His Second Masters, His Best May Be Yet to Come.” Sports Illustrated 104.16 (2006): 34. Print.