IN CONVERSATION
To understate things, Phil Mickelson splits opinion. Entertaining to watch and one of the greatest golfers of his generation, his recent shenanigans are gold-leafed in irony and have left him... Where, exactly? Art Spander considers what to make of Lefty’s complicated career, with additional reporting from Kingdom staff
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He sipped a $40,000 Burgundy from The Open trophy. He commuted the 90 miles from his home near San Diego to Riviera Country Club—by jet. He’s earned $800 million through golf. And he’s ripped into the PGA Tour. The same man was forced to accept that he was not as good as Tiger Woods, yet had the fortitude to rebound and win six majors. His record as golf’s oldest major champ could have a shelf life even longer than his enduring ability to win—and to confound.
Phil Mickelson does not quite meet the lyrics of Kris Kristofferson as a “walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction,” but unquestionably Phil is a complicated piece of work with at least two sides, maybe more. During that stunning, unexpected victory in the 2021 PGA Championship—aged 50 years, 11 months, seven days—Mickelson lifted the game to a level of excitement and anticipation we thought only Woods could cook up. There never was a shot Mickelson was afraid to take or a comment he was hesitant to make, and we saw the best of him at Kiawah Island last May. It defies logic that he beat beefy Brooks Koepka on the longest golf course ever to stage a major championship, with the Ocean Course elongated to 7,876 yards. Mickelson was 20 years older and 20 yards shorter, and yet he won by two. Even Woods admitted it was “truly inspirational.” Mickelson found the right words afterwards, too:
SPRING 2022
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