Mickelson

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

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:

2004 MASTERS

After logging eight top-3 results in majors without a win, Mickelson broke through at Augusta with five birdies in the final seven holes, including an 18-foot birdie on 18 to defeat Ernie Els by a shot.

2005 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

After thunderstorms at Baltusrol meant a Monday finish for the leaders, Mickelson birdied the final two holes to edge out Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjorn by one. 2006 MASTERS

Mickelson saved his best until the final round; a 69 easing him to a two-shot victory over South Africa’s Tim Clark. Mickelson’s third major title was made sweeter by his nemesis Woods helping him into the Green Jacket.

2010 MASTERS

Mickelson’s 6-iron from between two pine trees off the 13th fairway in the final round, which travelled 206 yards—over the creek—to set-up a birdie, is the most famous shot of Mickelson’s career. He became the eighth golfer to win three Masters titles. 2013 THE OPEN

Mickelson birdied four of the last six holes to shoot a final-round 66 to win by three. It was the lowest final round by an Open champ at Muirfield and Mickelson described it as “arguably the best round of my career.”

2021 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The “Awe on the Shore” saw Mickelson, aged 50 and without a win in two years, become the oldest major champion ever. He said: “There’s no reason why golf can’t be the game for a lifetime if you take care of your body and do it the right way.”

Phil holds his head on the final green of the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot

“I hope this inspires some to just put in that little extra work,” he said, “because there’s no reason why you can’t accomplish your goals at an older age. It just takes a little more work.”

He can be charming, giving advice to young golfers and motivating the next generation of tour and club golfers alike. He can be difficult, giving hell to U.S. captain Tom Watson after America lost the Ryder Cup in 2014.

Unfortunately for a golfer of such generational talent, Mickelson has not won the U.S. Open and almost surely never will. Whether you are a fan or not, his name would have sat neatly with golf’s most exclusive list: the fantastic five of Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Woods.

Six times Mickelson was second in his national open and so golf’s grand slam seems out of reach, as it was for Arnold Palmer (who finished tied-second in the PGA Championship three times but never won it). Still, Mickelson has said he will retire if he finally does win that elusive U.S. Open, and after this year more than a few might be pulling for him, if just to see a more elegant, less awkward end to what should have been a not-at-all awkward and otherwise glorious sunset of his career regardless. But then it is awkward, and so here we are (or here he is, at least).

PRODIGY TO PARIAH?

Since he was a toddler, Mickelson needed to be part of the action, or to create the action. His parents once attended a workshop called “Raising the strong-willed child.” Mickelson’s dad, Phil Snr., is an accomplished sportsman and a jet pilot who almost made the U.S. Olympic ski team. Phil Jnr. picked up golf by mirroring his father’s swing—“mirroring” being the operative word as “Lefty” is actually a rightie; he only swings from the left side because of the mirroring. Talk about gifted and strong-willed!

Young Phil was forceful and successful. While still an amateur, he won a pro tournament—the 1991 Tucson Open—and magazine cover shoots followed, as did the attitude. If Mickelson’s ability is matched by ego, the result has usually been great entertainment. Consider that he threw away his best U.S. Open chance in 2006 in dramatic style at the final hole, yet holed a birdie from 18 feet on the last green to grab his first major success at the 2004 Masters. Often toiling in the shadow of his pre-eminent rival Woods, the chilly dynamic between the two became one of tour golf’s biggest draws, and it continues to fascinate.

That rivalry helped to make Mickelson’s winning moments all the more impactful, such as the shot on 13 at Augusta National that helped win the 2010 Masters. But then the drama of those winning moments, in turn, made Mickelson’s other moves more impactful, such as when he skipped this year’s AT&T Pebble Pro-Am (which he won six times) to chase money in Saudi Arabia. Self-aware at the time, he knew exactly how it would be viewed.

Mickelson at the Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, 2020

“I know I will be criticized,” Mickelson said, soon after arriving for the Saudi International tournament. “That’s not my concern,” he added at the time.

Now 51, Mickelson is (or was) the most influential of the PGA Tour golfers who’s considered leaving the U.S.-based tour in favor of the promised mega-bucks Saudi-backed Super Golf League, which is being spearheaded by Greg Norman, another major champ often at odds with golf’s governing bodies (and in particular the PGA Tour).

Mickelson might speak on behalf of some PGA Tour colleagues in calling out his home tour on its media rights policies, but unquestionably he went further than most of them were willing to go when he uttered one of the young year’s most repeated quotes, saying of the Tour’s rights fees, “That type of greed is, to me, beyond obnoxious.”

At the time of writing Mickelson sits second only to Woods on the PGA Tour’s list of Career Money Leaders, on a total of $94,955,060 earned from prize money alone. That does not include earnings from other tours, from sponsorship and countless other appearances made over the past two decades since he turned pro. He also pulled an additional $6 million from the inaugural year of the TOUR’s Player Impact Program (finishing second to Woods). Understandably, some struggle to empathise with Mickelson, one of the richest men in sports.

Momentum turned against the Super Golf League in February following additional (and even more controversial) comments from Mickelson. At the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, respected and staunch PGA Tour supporter Rory McIlroy called Phil’s SGL comments, “naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant.” Soon afterwards Mickeslon issued an apology and took a break from tour golf.

And yet, weeks later at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy had softened up a bit, offering “I think Phil has been a wonderful ambassador for the game of golf, still is a wonderful ambassador for the game of golf... We all say things we want to take back... Hopefully he comes back at some stage, and he will, and people will welcome him back and be glad that he is back.”

Mickelson and the PGA Tour clearly have a serious rift to overcome, but if there’s a chance at an elegant reset between the two, count us among the crowd hoping he takes it. Love him or not, tour golf is a more colorful picture with Mickelson in it.