Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) (nicknamed "Lefty" for having a left-handed swing, despite being right-handed), is an American professional golfer. He is one of the leading players of his generation, having won three major championships and a total of 29 events on the PGA Tour.
Career summary
Phil Mickelson was born in San Diego, California and raised in Arizona and San Diego. He began playing golf at a very young age and copied his father's right handed swing while standing facing him, thus acquiring a left-handed swing despite being right-handed. He graduated from San Diego's University HS in 1988, then attended Arizona State on a golf scholarship, from which he graduated in 1992. In 1990, he became the first left-hander to win the U.S. Amateur title. By 1991, he had won his first PGA Tour tournament at the Northern Telecom Open as an amateur, becoming the first to do so since Scott Verplank at the 1985 Western Open in Chicago.
Mickelson continued to win many PGA Tour tournaments, winning at the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the World Series of Golf in 1996, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 1998, the Colonial in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002. Mickelson is also one of only 5 golfers (Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Annika Sörenstam) to have ever shot 59 in competition, and is the only left-hander among them; his 59 came at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course on November 24, 2004. (However, it does not count in some record books because the Grand Slam of Golf does not count as an official event, so there are only 4 golfers to record "official" 59s.) Mickelson was known for his powerful full swing but even more so for his superlative short game, most of all his daring "Phil flop" shot in which a big swing with a high-lofted wedge against a tight lie flies a ball high into the air for a short distance.
Despite these accomplishments, for many years Mickelson was often described as the "best golfer never to win a major." Mickelson often played well in majors: in the five-year span between 1999 and 2003 he had six second-place or third-place finishes. But victory always eluded him, for reasons that were ascribed to taking too many risky shots, missing too many short putts, or a general lack of what it takes to close out a big tournament. Undaunted, Mickelson continued to refine his game and his course strategy and psychology.
Finally, his first major championship win came in the 2004 Masters, where he won with a 20-foot final hole birdie putt, defeating Ernie Els in a thrilling duel in which the stars traded birdies and eagles back and forth. In addition to getting the "majors monkey" off his back, this made him only the third golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, the others being New Zealander Sir Bob Charles who won the British Open in 1963 and Canadian Mike Weir who won The Masters in 2003. (Like Mickelson, Weir is a right-hander who plays left-handed.)
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The following year, in a Monday final round, Mickelson captured his second career major championship with his victory at the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol. On the 18th hole, Mickelson hit one of his trademark soft pitches from deep greenside rough to within a foot and a half of the cup, and then made his birdie to finish at a 4-under-par total of 276, one shot ahead of Steve Elkington and Thomas Björn. Mickelson captured his third major championship the following spring by winning the 2006 Masters. He won his second Green Jacket after shooting a 3 under par final round, winning by 2 strokes over his nearest rival Tim Clark. This win propelled him to 2nd place in the world golf rankings (his career best), behind Tiger Woods and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. Talk of Mickelson's inability to win majors was now replaced by speculation of how many he could win.
Demonstrating grace after even the toughest defeats, showing appreciation to legions of his fans and always honoring the traditions and history of the game has made Phil one of the most popular players ever to play on the Tour.
PGA Tour career summary table
| Year | Majors | Other wins | PGA TOUR wins | Earnings ($) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 0 | 1 | 1 | see note | N/A |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 171,714 | 90 |
| 1993 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 628,735 | 22 |
| 1994 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 748,316 | 15 |
| 1995 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 655,777 | 28 |
| 1996 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1,697,799 | 2 |
| 1997 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1,225,390 | 11 |
| 1998 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1,837,246 | 6 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,722,681 | 14 |
| 2000 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4,746,457 | 2 |
| 2001 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4,403,833 | 2 |
| 2002 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4,311,971 | 2 |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,623,137 | 38 |
| 2004 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5,784,823 | 3 |
| 2005 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5,699,605 | 3 |
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3,123,827 | 1 |
| Total* | 3 | 26 | 29 | 38,381,360 | 3 |
* As at 11 April 2006.
- Note:Mickelson won as an amateur in 1991 and therefore did not receive any prize money.
Being a very popular golfer as well as a successful one, Mickelson is able to earn far more from endorsements than he does in prize money. In 2004, Forbes estimated his annual income at $20 million.
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | T46 | DNP | T34 | DNP | T7 | 3 | CUT | T12 | T6 |
| U.S. Open | T29 | T55 | CUT | DNP | T47 | T4 | T94 | T43 | T10 | 2 |
| British Open | DNP | T73 | DNP | DNP | CUT | T40 | T40 | T24 | 79 | CUT |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | T6 | 3 | CUT | T8 | T29 | T34 | T57 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| U.S. Open | T16 | T7 | 2 | T55 | 2 | T33 | |
| British Open | T11 | T30 | T66 | T59 | 3 | T60 | |
| PGA Championship | T9 | 2 | T34 | T23 | T6 | 1 |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
PGA Tour wins
- 1991 Northern Telecom Open (as an amateur)
- 1993 Buick Invitational of California, The International
- 1994 Mercedes Championships
- 1995 Northern Telecom Open
- 1996 Nortel Open, Phoenix Open, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, NEC World Series of Golf
- 1997 Bay Hill Invitational, Sprint International
- 1998 Mercedes Championships, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
- 2000 Buick Invitational, BellSouth Classic, MasterCard Colonial, The Tour Championship
- 2001 Buick Invitational, Canon Greater Hartford Open
- 2002 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Canon Greater Hartford Open
- 2004 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, The Masters
- 2005 FBR Open, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, BellSouth Classic, PGA Championship
- 2006 BellSouth Classic, The Masters
Major championships are shown in bold.
Other professional wins
- 1993 Tournoi Perrier Paris (Europe, but it's a Challenge Tour not a European Tour event)
- 2001 Tylenol Par-3 Shootout at Treetops Resort
- 2004 TELUS Skins Game, PGA Grand Slam of Golf
Team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1989, 1991
- Eisenhower Trophy: 1990
Professional
- Presidents Cup: 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005
- Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004
- Dunhill Cup: 1996