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 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 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 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[by whom?] for his powerful 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 5.
According to a Sports Illustrated feature entitled "The Fortunate 50", Mickelson is the second-highest paid athlete in the world, behind 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 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 for his performance.[5]
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. 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.
At the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, Mickelson finished second to Geoff Ogilvy after one of the most memorable final hole collapses in the history of major championship golf[citation needed]. Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie also had a similar collapse on the 18th, handing victory to Ogilvy, who 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, with the following shot plugging 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 heading into Winged Foot).
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." [6]
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.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9]
Mickelson has spent over 550 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, the most by anyone not ranked number one.[10][11]
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.[13]
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.[14]
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 hot 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 |
 Tom Purtzer |
| 2 |
Feb 21, 1993 |
Buick Invitational of California |
-10 (75-69-69-65=278) |
7 strokes |
Jay Don Blake, Jay Haas,
Greg Twiggs |
| 3 |
Aug 22, 1993 |
The International |
45 pts (11-7-11-16 = 45) |
8 points |
Mark Calcavecchia |
| 4 |
Jan 9, 1994 |
Mercedes Championships |
-12 (70-68-70-68=276) |
Playoff |
Fred Couples |
| 5 |
Jan 22, 1995 |
Northern Telecom Open |
-19 (65-66-70-68=269) |
1 stroke |
Jim Gallagher, Jr. |
| 6 |
Jan 14, 1996 |
Nortel Open |
-14 (69-66-71-67=273) |
2 strokes |
Bob Tway |
| 7 |
Jan 27, 1996 |
Phoenix Open |
-15 (69-67-66-67=269) |
Playoff |
Justin Leonard |
| 8 |
May 15, 1996 |
GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic |
-15 (67-65-67-66=265) |
2 strokes |
 Craig Parry |
| 9 |
Aug 25, 1996 |
NEC World Series of Golf |
-6 (70-66-68-70=274) |
3 strokes |
Billy Mayfair, Steve Stricker,
Duffy Waldorf |
| 10 |
Mar 23, 1997 |
Bay Hill Invitational |
-16 (72-65-70-65=272) |
3 strokes |
Stuart Appleby |
| 11 |
Aug 3, 1997 |
Sprint International |
48 pts (14-13-12-9 = 48) |
7 points |
Stuart Appleby |
| 12 |
Jan 11, 1998 |
Mercedes Championships |
-17 (68-67-68-68=271) |
1 stroke |
Mark O'Meara, Tiger Woods |
| 13 |
Feb 1, 1998 |
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am |
-14 (65-70-67=202) |
1 stroke |
Tom Pernice, Jr. |
| 14 |
Feb 13, 2000 |
Buick Invitational |
-18 (66-67-67-70=270) |
4 strokes |
 Shigeki Maruyama, Tiger Woods |
| 15 |
Apr 2, 2000 |
BellSouth Classic |
-11 (67-69-69=205) |
Playoff |
Gary Nicklaus |
| 16 |
May 21, 2000 |
MasterCard Colonial |
-12 (67-68-70-63=268) |
2 strokes |
Stewart Cink, Davis Love III |
| 17 |
Nov 5, 2000 |
The Tour Championship |
-13 (67-69-65-66=267) |
2 strokes |
Tiger Woods |
| 18 |
Feb 11, 2001 |
Buick Invitational |
-19 (68-64-71-66=269) |
Playoff |
Frank Lickliter, Davis Love III |
| 19 |
Jul 1, 2001 |
Canon Greater Hartford Open |
-16 (67-68-61-68=264) |
1 stroke |
Billy Andrade |
| 20 |
Jan 20, 2002 |
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic |
-30 (64-67-70-65-64=330) |
Playoff |
David Berganio, Jr. |
| 21 |
Jun 23, 2002 |
Canon Greater Hartford Open |
-14 (69-67-66-64=264) |
1 stroke |
Jonathan Kaye, Davis Love III |
| 22 |
Jan 25, 2004 |
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic |
-30 (68-63-64-67-68=330) |
Playoff |
Skip Kendall |
| 23 |
Apr 11, 2004 |
The Masters |
-9 (72-69-69-69=279) |
1 stroke |
 Ernie Els |
| 24 |
Feb 6, 2005 |
FBR Open |
-17 (73-60-66-68=267) |
5 strokes |
Scott McCarron, Kevin Na |
| 25 |
Feb 13, 2005 |
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am |
-19 (62-67-67-73=269) |
4 strokes |
 Mike Weir |
| 26 |
Apr 4, 2005 |
BellSouth Classic |
-8 (74-65-69=208) |
Playoff |
 Arjun Atwal, Rich Beem,
Brandt Jobe,  José María Olazábal |
| 27 |
Aug 15, 2005 |
PGA Championship |
-4 (67-65-72-72=276) |
1 stroke |
 Thomas Bjørn, Steve Elkington |
| 28 |
Apr 2, 2006 |
BellSouth Classic |
-28 (63-65-67-65=260) |
13 strokes |
Zach Johnson, José María Olazábal |
| 29 |
Apr 9, 2006 |
The Masters |
-7 (70-72-70-69=281) |
2 strokes |
Tim Clark |
| 30 |
Feb 11, 2007 |
AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am |
-20 (65-67-70-66=268) |
5 strokes |
Kevin Sutherland |
| 31 |
May 13, 2007 |
The Players Championship |
-11 (67-72-69-69=277) |
2 strokes |
Sergio García |
| 32 |
Sep 3, 2007 |
Deutsche Bank Championship |
-16 (70-64-68-66=268) |
2 strokes |
Arron Oberholser, Brett Wetterich,
Tiger Woods |
| 33 |
Feb 17, 2008 |
Northern Trust Open |
-12 (68-64-70-70=272) |
2 strokes |
Jeff Quinney |
| 34 |
May 25, 2008 |
Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial |
-14 (65-68-65-68=266) |
1 stroke |
Tim Clark, Rod Pampling |
| 35 |
Feb 22, 2009 |
Northern Trust Open |
-15 (63-72-62-72=269) |
1 stroke |
Steve Stricker |
| 36 |
Mar 15, 2009 |
WGC-CA Championship |
-19 (65-66-69-69=269) |
1 stroke |
Nick Watney |
| 37 |
Sep 27, 2009 |
The Tour Championship |
-9 (73-67-66-65=271) |
3 strokes |
Tiger Woods |
PGA Tour playoff record (7-3)
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)
Results timeline
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
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
- Presidents Cup: 1994 (winners), 1996 (winners), 1998, 2000 (winners), 2003 (tie), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners)
- Ryder Cup: 1995, 1997, 1999 (winners), 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners)
- Alfred Dunhill Cup: 1996 (winners)
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
See also
References
External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Mickelson, Philip Alfred |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
Lefty |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Professional golfer |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
June 16, 1970 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
San Diego, California |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF DEATH |
|
