Phil Mickelson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Personal Information | |
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| Birth | June 16, 1970 San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Rancho Santa Fe, California, U.S. |
| College | Arizona State University |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1992 |
| Current tour | PGA Tour (joined 1992) |
| Professional wins | 40 (PGA Tour: 33, Other: 7) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 3 |
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| Masters | Won 2004, 2006 |
| U.S. Open | 2nd/T2: 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006 |
| British Open | 3rd: 2004 |
| PGA Championship | Won 2005 |
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) (nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise 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 33 events on the PGA Tour. He has reached a career high world ranking of 2nd in multiple years.
Contents |
[edit] Career summary
[edit] Early years through college
Mickelson was born in San Diego, California and raised there and in Arizona. Mickelson swings a golf club left-handed, which he learned by watching his right-handed father swing and mirroring it. He is right-handed otherwise.[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, Phil 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 first 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 in PGA history to accomplish this feat and the first since Scott Verplank, who won the 1985 Western Open in Chicago.
[edit] PGA Tour pro
Mickelson 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 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.
Mickelson shares a record for the most second-place finishes in the U.S. Open with four (along with Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, and Jack Nicklaus).
[edit] Three majors
His first major championship win came at the 2004 Masters, where he won with a 20-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 equipment sponsor to this day. 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 on his performance.[3]
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 Bjørn. 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 Official World Golf Rankings (his career best), behind Tiger Woods and ahead of Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen.
[edit] Disaster at Winged Foot
At the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Phil finished second to Geoff Ogilvy after one of the most memorable final hole collapses in major championship golf. Leading by a stroke with one hole to play, Phil 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 Mickelson 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. Phil 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, with the following shot plugging into the greenside bunker. Phil 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've 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 heading into Winged Foot).
Reflecting on his performance afterwards Phil admitted: "I still am in shock that I did that. I just can't believe I did that. I'm such an idiot".[4]
[edit] 2006 to present
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. 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.[5]
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 for Conrad's daughter Holli's college education at Miami University in Ohio.[6]
His popularity among fellow tour golfers is lower, however, to the point that he ranked eighth on a 2006 GQ Magazine list of the Ten Most Hated Athletes.[7] Colleagues on the Tour refer to Mickelson as "FIGJAM", which stands for "Fuck I'm Good--Just Ask Me".[1][2][3][4] In his book A Good Walk Spoiled, noted author John Feinstein compared Mickelson's personality to Eddie Haskell on the classic TV series Leave It to Beaver, in that he may exhibit a polite exterior but in reality is egotistical and rather mean. Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly added that "the entire family is like that...when I met his sister, (noted golf columnist) Tina Mickelson, she spoke to me like a kindergarten teacher: very polite and measured."
Frustrated with his driving accuracy, Phil made the decision in April 2007 to 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.
Phil and his wife, Amy, were married on November 16, 1996. The couple have three children - Amanda, Sophia, and Evan.
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. His withdrawal stemmed from a disagreement with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem over issues Mickelson would not explain.
Mickelson has spent over 500 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, the most by anyone not to be ranked number one.[8]
[edit] Amateur wins (7)
- 1981 Junior World Golf Championships (Boys 9-10)
- 1989 NCAA Division I Championship
- 1990 NCAA Division I Championship, U.S. Amateur, Porter Cup
- 1991 Western Amateur
- 1992 NCAA Division I Championship
[edit] PGA Tour wins (33)
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[edit] Other wins (7)
- 1993 Tournoi Perrier Paris (Challenge Tour)
- 1997 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Fred Couples and Tom Lehman)
- 2000 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Notah Begay III and Rocco Mediate)
- 2001 Tylenol Par-3 Shootout at Treetops Resort
- 2004 Telus Skins Game, PGA Grand Slam of Golf
- 2007 HSBC Champions (co-sanctioned by European Tour, Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia)
[edit] Major Championships
[edit] Wins (3)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runners Up |
| 2004 | The Masters | Tied for lead | -9 (72-69-69-69=279) | 1 stroke |  Ernie Els |
| 2005 | PGA Championship | Tied for lead | -4 (67-65-72-72=276) | 1 stroke |  Thomas Bjørn,  Steve Elkington |
| 2006 | The Masters (2) | 1 shot lead | -7 (70-72-70-69=281) | 2 strokes | Tim Clark |
[edit] 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 |
| British Open | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 | T24 |
| U.S. Open | T16 | T7 | 2 | T55 | 2 | T33 | T2 | CUT |
| British Open | T11 | T30 | T66 | T59 | 3 | T60 | T22 | CUT |
| PGA Championship | T9 | 2 | T34 | T23 | T6 | 1 | T16 | T32 |
LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] 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 |
| Career | 32 (3) | 45,334,026 | 3 |
* Complete through the end of the 2007 PGA Tour 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. In 2004, Forbes estimated his annual income at $20 million.
[edit] United States national team appearances
Amateur
- Walker Cup: 1989, 1991 (winners)
- Eisenhower Trophy: 1990
Professional
- Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners)
- Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006
- Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
[edit] Equipment
As of the 2007 Players Championship
- Driver: Callaway FT-5 (8.5 degree)
- Fairway Wood: Callaway X Tour (13 degree)
- Hybrids:Callaway 2H X and 4H X (18 and 21 degrees)
- Irons: Callaway Roger Cleveland Prototype Blades (5-PW)
- Wedges: Callaway X-Tour (50, 55, 60)
- Putter: Odyssey White Hot XG #9
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Personal section of PGA Tour official media guide
- ^ The Gigantic Book of Golf Quotations, ed. Jim Apfelbaum. 2007.
- ^ Barr, Adam (2004-09-07). Business Edge: Mickelson, Callaway Sign Endorsement Deal. The Golf Channel. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ Maisel, Ivan (2006-06-25). Open will be remembered for Mickelson's collapse. ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ SportsTicker (2006-03-04). Tips appreciated. SI.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ Verdi, Bob, Golf World (2007-02-14). Mickelson gives to Dobler family. ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ Gargill, David and Penn, Nate (February 2006). The Ten Most Hated Athletes: 8. Phil Mickelson. GQ. Retrieved on 2007-11-20.
- ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
[edit] External links
- Phil Mickelson's official web site
- Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
- Results for the last two years from the Official World Golf Rankings site
| Official World Golf Rankings | Top ten male golfers as of February 24, 2008 | |||||
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| Chad Campbell · Stewart Cink · Chris DiMarco · Fred Funk · Jim Furyk · Jay Haas · Davis Love III · Phil Mickelson · Kenny Perry · Chris Riley · Hal Sutton (captain) · David Toms · Tiger Woods |
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| Chad Campbell · Stewart Cink · Chris DiMarco · Jim Furyk · J. J. Henry · Zach Johnson · Tom Lehman (captain) · Phil Mickelson · Vaughn Taylor · David Toms · Scott Verplank · Brett Wetterich · Tiger Woods |
