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Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson
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Phil Mickelson
MickelsonTPCAwardCeremony.jpg
Mickelson (right) with Tim Finchem at The Players Championship awards ceremony
Personal information
Full name Philip Alfred Mickelson
Nickname Lefty
Born June 16, 1970 (1970-06-16) (age 39)
San Diego, California
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Nationality  United States
Residence Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA
Spouse Amy
Career
College Arizona State University
Turned professional 1992
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1992)
Professional wins 45
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 37 (12th all time)
European Tour 6
Challenge Tour 1
Other 5
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 3)
The Masters Won: 2004, 2006
U.S. Open 2nd/T2: 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009
Open Championship 3rd: 2004
PGA Championship Won: 2005
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer. He has won three major championships and a total of 37 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years. He is nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed.

Career summary

Early years through college

Mickelson was born in San Diego, California, and was raised there and in Arizona. Although right-handed otherwise, he swings with his left hand, as he learned by watching his right-handed father swing and mirroring it.[1] He graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1988, then attended Arizona State on a golf scholarship, where he graduated in 1992. During his time at Arizona State, he became the face of amateur golf in the United States, capturing three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992) as the outstanding collegiate golfer. He was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In addition, in 1990, he became the first left-hander to win the U.S. Amateur title. Perhaps his greatest achievement, though, came in 1991 when he won his first PGA Tour tournament, the Northern Telecom Open. He did so as an amateur, becoming only the fourth player in PGA history to accomplish this feat, and the first since Scott Verplank, who won the 1985 Western Open in Chicago.

PGA Tour pro

Mickelson turned pro in 1992 following his graduation. He was able to bypass the Tour's qualifying process (Q-School) because of his 1991 Tucson win. He continued to win many PGA Tour tournaments, including 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 National Invitation in 2000 and the Greater Hartford Open in 2001 and again in 2002. He also won the Buick Invitational in 2000, defeating Tiger Woods and ending his streak of consecutive tournament victories at six. After his win, Mickelson said, "I didn't want to be the bad guy. I wasn't trying to end the streak per se. I was just trying to win the golf tournament."[2] Mickelson also shot a round of 59 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course on November 24, 2004. Mickelson's game was characterized by his powerful but often not accurate full swing, but even more so for his sweet 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".[3]. Mickelson often played well in majors: in the five-year span between 1999 and 2003 he had six second-place or third-place finishes. Mickelson holds the record for the most second-place finishes in U.S. Open history with five.
According to a Sports Illustrated feature entitled "The Fortunate 50", Mickelson is the second-highest paid athlete in the world, behind only Tiger Woods. In 2007, Mickelson earned $62 million, $53 million of it from endorsements. The same article estimated that he earned $51 million in 2006. In January 1994, Mickelson made a short cameo appearance in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the episode named "Witness".
Since joining the PGA Tour, Mickelson's caddy has been Jim "Bones" Mackay.[4] Mickelson has a life exemption on the PGA Tour, for being a tour member for over 15 years and having 20 plus tour victories.

Three majors

His first major championship win came at the 2004 Masters, where he won with a 18-foot final hole birdie putt, defeating Ernie Els in a Sunday back-nine 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.)
Just prior to the 2004 Ryder Cup, Mickelson was dropped from his long-standing contract with Titleist/Acushnet Golf, when he took heat for a voicemail message he left for a Callaway Golf executive. In it, he praised their driver and golf ball and thanked them for their help in getting some equipment for his brother. This memo was played to all of their salesmen, and eventually found its way back to Titleist. He was then let out of his multi-year deal with Titleist 16 months early, and signed on with Callaway Golf, his current equipment sponsor. He endured a great deal of ridicule and scrutiny from the press and fellow Ryder Cup members for his equipment change so close to the crucial Ryder Cup matches. He faltered horribly at the 2004 Ryder Cup, going 1-3-0, but refused to blame the sudden change in equipment or his practice methods for his performance.
The following year, in a Monday final round conclusion forced by weather, 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 Bjørn.
Mickelson captured his third major championship the following spring by winning the 2006 Masters. Mickelson 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 Official World Golf Rankings (his career best), behind Tiger Woods and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.

Disaster at Winged Foot

At the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson finished second to Geoff Ogilvy, after a staggering finish. On the 17th hole, Mickelson, with the lead, missed the fairway to the left, and his drive finished inside a garbage can, from which he was granted a free drop; he bogeyed the hole, reducing his lead to one shot heading to the final hole. Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie made a double bogey from the middle of the fairway on the 18th, when a par would have ultimately won for him, handing eventual victory to Ogilvy. Ogilvy had a two-stroke lead in the middle of the round, only to fade away, and needed to chip in at 17 and hole a 6-footer at 18 to finish at 5 over par. Mickelson, then leading by a stroke with one hole to play, chose to hit driver on the final (72nd) hole of the tournament, and hit it well left of the fairway. This decision was widely criticized, since he had only hit two of thirteen fairways previously in the round. The ball bounced off a corporate hospitality tent and settled in an area of trampled-down grass that was enclosed with trees. He decided to aggressively go for the green with his second shot rather than play it safe and pitch out into the fairway. His ball then hit a tree, and did not advance more than 50 yards. His next shot plugged into the greenside bunker. He was unable to get up and down from there, resulting in double bogey, and costing him any chance of winning the championship outright or getting into a playoff (a bogey would have gotten him a playoff with Ogilvy), and also ending his bid to join Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players to win three consecutive professional majors (he had two in a row, heading into Winged Foot). The collapsing finishes by both Mickelson and Montgomerie were among the worst ever seen in the history of major-championship golf, joining the final-hole triple-bogeys made by Sam Snead at the 1939 U.S. Open and Jean van de Velde at the 1999 British Open.
Reflecting on his performance afterwards, Mickelson admitted: "I still am in shock that I did that. I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot."

2006 to present

Mickelson teeing off on the last hole of his 2007 Players Championship win.
During the third round of the 2006 Ford Championship at Doral, Mickelson gave $200 to a spectator after his wayward tee shot at the par-5 10th broke the man's watch.
Mickelson has also shown other signs of appreciation. In 2007, after hearing the story of retired NFL player Conrad Dobler and his family on ESPN explaining their struggles to pay medical bills, Mickelson volunteered to pay tuition for Holli Dobler, Conrad Dobler's daughter, at Miami University in Ohio.
Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Mickelson made the decision in April 2007 to leave longtime swing coach Rick Smith. He currently works with Butch Harmon, a former coach of Tiger Woods. On May 13, 2007, Mickelson came from a stroke back on the final round to shoot a three-under 69 to win The Players Championship with an 11-under-par 277. This Mother's Day win was his first without his wife and children present.
In the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont, after shooting 11 over par after 2 rounds, Mickelson missed the cut (by a stroke) for the first time in 31 majors, since the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie. He had been hampered by a wrist injury that was incurred while practicing in the thick rough at Oakmont a few weeks before the tournament.
On September 3, 2007, Mickelson won the Deutsche Bank Championship which is the second FedEx Cup playoff event. On the final day he was paired with Tiger Woods who ended up finishing 2 strokes behind Mickelson in a tie for second. It was the first time Mickelson was able to best Woods while paired together on the final day of a tournament. The next day Mickelson announced that he would not be competing in the third FedEx Cup playoff event. The day before his withdrawal, Mickelson said during a television interview that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem had not responded to advice he had given him on undisclosed issues.
Mickelson has spent over 550 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, the most by anyone not ranked number one.
In a recent Men's Vogue article, Mickelson recounted his effort to lose 20 pounds with the help of trainer Sean Cochran. "Once the younger players started to come on tour, he realized that he had to start working out to maintain longevity in his career", Cochran said.[12] Mickelson's regimen consisted of increasing flexibility and power, eating five smaller meals a day, aerobic training, and carrying his own golf bag.
Mickelson, paired with Tiger Woods, struggled mightily at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. On his 3rd shot on a par 5, his shot landed short of the green and rolled back down the hill. The same shot happened 3 times, leading to a quadruple bogey.
He won for the first time in 2009 by defending his title at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club. He finished one stroke ahead of Steve Stricker. It was Mickelson's 35th win on tour, allowing him to surpass Vijay Singh for all time wins at the current time on the PGA Tour. A month later, he won his 36th title on the tour, and his first World Golf Championship win at the 2009 WGC-CA Championship with a one stroke win over Nick Watney.
Mickelson was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2008[15] as he is of Italian descent on his mother's side.[citation needed]
On May 20, 2009, it was announced that Mickelson's wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Mickelson said he will suspend his PGA Tour schedule indefinitely. His management company says Amy Mickelson will begin treatment with major surgery as early as the next two weeks. They were married in 1996 and have three children. Mickelson was to play the HP Byron Nelson Championship May 21-24, and defend his title May 28-31 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.[16] During the final round of the 2009 BMW PGA Championship, fellow golfer and family friend John Daly wore bright pink trousers in support of Mickelson's wife.[17] Also, the next Saturday, at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, a "Pink Out" event was hosted and the PGA Tour players all wore pink that day, to support the Mickelson family.
On May 31, 2009, Mickelson announced that he would return to play on the PGA Tour in June at the St. Jude Classic and at the U.S. Open as he had heard from the doctors treating his wife that her cancer had been detected in an early stage.[18]
On June 22, 2009, Mickelson shot a final round 70 at the 2009 U.S. Open and recorded his fifth runner up finish at the U.S. Open. He shared the lead after an eagle at the 13th hole, but fell back with bogeys on 15 and 17 and Lucas Glover captured the championship.
On July 6, 2009 it was announced that his mother, Mary Mickelson, was diagnosed with breast cancer and will have surgery at the same hospital where his wife was treated.[19] After hearing the news of his mother now being diagnosed with breast cancer, Mickelson took another leave of absence from the Tour, missing The Open Championship.
On July 28, 2009, Mickelson announced he would again return to the PGA Tour in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the week before the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. In September, Mickelson won The Tour Championship for the second time in his career. He entered the final round four strokes off the lead, but shot a final round 65 to win the event by three strokes over Tiger Woods.[20] With the win, Mickelson finished the season second behind Woods in the 2009 FedEx Cup standings.[21]
On November 8, 2009, Mickelson won the WGC-HSBC Champions by one shot over Ernie Els in Shanghai.[22]

Amateur wins (7)

Professional wins (45)

PGA Tour wins (37)

Legend
Major Championships (3)
World Golf Championships (1)
FedEx Cup Events (2)
Other PGA Tour (31)
No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of
Victory
Runner(s)-up
1 Jan 13, 1991 Northern Telecom Open
(as an amateur)
-16 (65-71-65-71=272) 1 stroke United States Tom Purtzer
2 Feb 21, 1993 Buick Invitational of California -10 (75-69-69-65=278) 7 strokes United States Jay Don Blake, United States Jay Haas,
United States Greg Twiggs
3 Aug 22, 1993 The International 45 pts (11-7-11-16 = 45) 8 points United States Mark Calcavecchia
4 Jan 9, 1994 Mercedes Championships -12 (70-68-70-68=276) Playoff United States Fred Couples
5 Jan 22, 1995 Northern Telecom Open -19 (65-66-70-68=269) 1 stroke United States Jim Gallagher, Jr.
6 Jan 14, 1996 Nortel Open -14 (69-66-71-67=273) 2 strokes United States Bob Tway
7 Jan 27, 1996 Phoenix Open -15 (69-67-66-67=269) Playoff United States Justin Leonard
8 May 15, 1996 GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic -15 (67-65-67-66=265) 2 strokes Australia Craig Parry
9 Aug 25, 1996 NEC World Series of Golf -6 (70-66-68-70=274) 3 strokes United States Billy Mayfair, United States Steve Stricker,
United States Duffy Waldorf
10 Mar 23, 1997 Bay Hill Invitational -16 (72-65-70-65=272) 3 strokes Australia Stuart Appleby
11 Aug 3, 1997 Sprint International 48 pts (14-13-12-9 = 48) 7 points Australia Stuart Appleby
12 Jan 11, 1998 Mercedes Championships -17 (68-67-68-68=271) 1 stroke United States Mark O'Meara, United States Tiger Woods
13 Feb 1, 1998 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -14 (65-70-67=202) 1 stroke United States Tom Pernice, Jr.
14 Feb 13, 2000 Buick Invitational -18 (66-67-67-70=270) 4 strokes Japan Shigeki Maruyama, United States Tiger Woods
15 Apr 2, 2000 BellSouth Classic -11 (67-69-69=205) Playoff United States Gary Nicklaus
16 May 21, 2000 MasterCard Colonial -12 (67-68-70-63=268) 2 strokes United States Stewart Cink, United States Davis Love III
17 Nov 5, 2000 The Tour Championship -13 (67-69-65-66=267) 2 strokes United States Tiger Woods
18 Feb 11, 2001 Buick Invitational -19 (68-64-71-66=269) Playoff United States Frank Lickliter, United States Davis Love III
19 Jul 1, 2001 Canon Greater Hartford Open -16 (67-68-61-68=264) 1 stroke United States Billy Andrade
20 Jan 20, 2002 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic -30 (64-67-70-65-64=330) Playoff United States David Berganio, Jr.
21 Jun 23, 2002 Canon Greater Hartford Open -14 (69-67-66-64=264) 1 stroke United States Jonathan Kaye, United States Davis Love III
22 Jan 25, 2004 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic -30 (68-63-64-67-68=330) Playoff United States Skip Kendall
23 Apr 11, 2004 The Masters -9 (72-69-69-69=279) 1 stroke South Africa Ernie Els
24 Feb 6, 2005 FBR Open -17 (73-60-66-68=267) 5 strokes United States Scott McCarron, United States Kevin Na
25 Feb 13, 2005 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -19 (62-67-67-73=269) 4 strokes Canada Mike Weir
26 Apr 4, 2005 BellSouth Classic -8 (74-65-69=208) Playoff India Arjun Atwal, United States Rich Beem,
United States Brandt Jobe, Spain José María Olazábal
27 Aug 15, 2005 PGA Championship -4 (67-65-72-72=276) 1 stroke Denmark Thomas Bjørn, Australia Steve Elkington
28 Apr 2, 2006 BellSouth Classic -28 (63-65-67-65=260) 13 strokes United States Zach Johnson, Spain José María Olazábal
29 Apr 9, 2006 The Masters -7 (70-72-70-69=281) 2 strokes South Africa Tim Clark
30 Feb 11, 2007 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am -20 (65-67-70-66=268) 5 strokes United States Kevin Sutherland
31 May 13, 2007 The Players Championship -11 (67-72-69-69=277) 2 strokes Spain Sergio García
32 Sep 3, 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship -16 (70-64-68-66=268) 2 strokes United States Arron Oberholser, United States Brett Wetterich,
United States Tiger Woods
33 Feb 17, 2008 Northern Trust Open -12 (68-64-70-70=272) 2 strokes United States Jeff Quinney
34 May 25, 2008 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial -14 (65-68-65-68=266) 1 stroke South Africa Tim Clark, Australia Rod Pampling
35 Feb 22, 2009 Northern Trust Open -15 (63-72-62-72=269) 1 stroke United States Steve Stricker
36 Mar 15, 2009 WGC-CA Championship -19 (65-66-69-69=269) 1 stroke United States Nick Watney
37 Sep 27, 2009 The Tour Championship -9 (73-67-66-65=271) 3 strokes United States Tiger Woods
PGA Tour playoff record (7-3)
No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 1994 Mercedes Championships Fred Couples Won with par on second playoff hole
2 1996 Phoenix Open Justin Leonard Won with birdie on third playoff hole
3 2000 BellSouth Classic Gary Nicklaus Won with birdie on first playoff hole
4 2000 GTE Byron Nelson Classic Davis Love III, Jesper Parnevik Lost on second playoff hole
(Parnevik won with birdie on third playoff hole)
5 2001 Buick Invitational Frank Lickliter, Davis Love III Won with double bogey on third playoff hole
(Love was eliminated on second playoff hole)
6 2002 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic David Berganio, Jr. Won with birdie on first playoff hole
7 2004 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Skip Kendall Won with birdie on first playoff hole
8 2005 BellSouth Classic Arjun Atwal, Rich Beem,
Brandt Jobe, José María Olazábal
Won with birdie on fourth playoff hole
(Olazábal was eliminated on third playoff hole.
Atwal and Jobe were eliminated on first playoff hole)
9 2007 Nissan Open Charles Howell III Lost to par on third playoff hole
10 2008 FBR Open J. B. Holmes Lost to birdie on first playoff hole

European Tour wins (6)

Note: Majors and WGC-CA Championship are also PGA Tour wins

Challenge Tour wins (1)

  • 1993 Tournoi Perrier Paris

Other wins (5)

Major championships

Wins (3)

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runner(s)-up
2004 The Masters Tied for lead -9 (72-69-69-69=279) 1 stroke South Africa Ernie Els
2005 PGA Championship Tied for lead -4 (67-65-72-72=276) 1 stroke Denmark Thomas Bjørn, Australia Steve Elkington
2006 The Masters (2) 1 shot lead -7 (70-72-70-69=281) 2 strokes South Africa Tim Clark

Results timeline

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters DNP T46 LA DNP T34 DNP T7 3 CUT T12 T6
U.S. Open T29 LA T55 LA CUT DNP T47 T4 T94 T43 T10 2
The Open Championship DNP T73 DNP DNP CUT T40 T41 T24 79 CUT
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP T6 3 CUT T8 T29 T34 T57
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Masters T7 3 3 3 1 10 1 T24 T5 5
U.S. Open T16 T7 2 T55 2 T33 T2 CUT T18 T2
The Open Championship T11 T30 T66 T59 3 T60 T22 CUT T19 DNP
PGA Championship T9 2 T34 T23 T6 1 T16 T32 T7 73
LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Accenture Match Play Championship R16 R64 DNP R64 R16 QF R16 R16 R32 R32 R16
CA Championship T40 DNP NT1 T23 T38 DNP T29 DNP T23 T20 1
Bridgestone Invitational 2 T4 T8 T9 T23 T43 T51 T54 T46 T4 T58
HSBC Champions 1
1Cancelled due to 9/11
The HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009 (it is not an official PGA Tour event). Mickelson won the event in 2007, before it became part of the WGC schedule.
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

PGA Tour career summary

Year Wins (Majors) Earnings ($) Rank
1991 1 see note N/A
1992 0 171,714 90
1993 2 628,735 22
1994 1 748,316 15
1995 1 655,777 28
1996 4 1,697,799 2
1997 2 1,225,390 11
1998 2 1,837,246 6
1999 0 1,722,681 14
2000 4 4,746,457 2
2001 2 4,403,833 2
2002 2 4,311,971 2
2003 0 1,623,137 38
2004 2 (1) 5,784,823 3
2005 4 (1) 5,699,605 3
2006 2 (1) 4,256,505 6
2007 3 5,819,988 2
2008 2 5,118,875 3
2009 3 5,332,755 3
Career* 37 (3) 55,855,656 3
* Complete through the 2009 season.
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. According to estimates by Fortune Magazine Mickelson's income for 2007 was over $51 million, with $47 million coming from endorsements.

United States national team appearances

Amateur
Professional

Equipment

As of the 2009 WGC-HSBC Champions
  • Driver: Callaway FT-9 (7.5 degree)
  • Fairway Wood: Callaway Big Bertha Diablo (14 degree)
  • Hybrids: Callaway Prototype Hybrids (18,22 Degrees)
  • Irons: Callaway X-Prototype Blades (5-PW)
  • Wedges: Callaway X-Forged (56, 60, 64)
  • Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG #9 prototype
  • Ball: Callaway Tour ix