Phil Mickelson

Mickelson started playing golf at 18 months old, swinging left-handed as a mirror image of his father. When he got serious about the game, his father built a complete practice area in the backyard of their home in San Diego. Had a sterling amateur career, winning the 1989, '90, and '92 NCAA Championships and the 1990 U.S. Amateur. Was also the low amateur (T-29th) at the 1990 U.S. Open and a four-time All-American. Mickelson won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open as an amateur, becoming the fifth-youngest winner of a PGA Tour event. He is one of only five players (Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ryan Moore, and Bryson DeChambeau) to win the NCAA and the U.S. Amateur the same year.
Turned professional at the 1992 U.S. Open and won five events before age 25. Plays golf left-handed but is right-handed in all other activities. Has finished 2nd on the money list five times but has never won the title. Was beaten out by Tom Lehman in the final week in 1996 when Lehman won the Tour Championship. Mickelson won four times that year, the most on the PGA Tour, and matched that mark with another four wins in 2000 and '05. In the generation of golfers of the last two decades, he is the second-best player behind Woods. Mickelson has never advanced higher than 2nd in the world ranking.
Member of 1995, '97, '99, 2002, '04, '06, '08, '10, '12, '14, '16 and '18 U.S. Ryder Cup teams. Member of 1994, '96, '98, 2000, '03, '05, '07, '09, '11, '13, '15 and '17 Presidents Cup teams. Member of 1989 and '91 Walker Cup teams.
2009 Notes: Started the year winning the Northern Trust and the WGC-CA Championship. Took time off during the season after breast-cancer diagnoses for both his wife and mother. Won the Tour Championship to finish 2nd in the FedExCup standings.
2010 Notes: Won the Masters, but the rest of the season was tough. Contended in only a small number of events, mostly due to health concerns with his wife and mother, plus his medical problem of arthritis.
2011 Notes: Elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Victory at Shell Houston Open extended his winning streak to eight years in a row. A 10th-place finish at the Tour Championship led to a 15th-place showing in the FedExCup standings, making him the only player to finish inside the top-15 in all five of the competition's seasons. Finished 3-1-0 in his ninth Presidents Cup appearance for the United States, including a 3-0-0 record partnering with Jim Furyk.
2012 Notes: Won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am while paired with Woods in the final round. Lost to Bill Haas in a three-man playoff at the Northern Trust Open. Placed 5th in the final FedExCup standings after a T-15th finish at the Tour Championship. Was the only player to finish inside the top-15 in the FedExCup standings in the first six seasons. Turned in a 3-1-0 record at the Ryder Cup in a losing effort for the U.S. Paired with Keegan Bradley to win first three matches, but dropped his singles match to Justin Rose. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
2013 Notes: At the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Mickelson opened with a 60, then shot 65-65-67 to win by four strokes. His 28-under-par 256 total equaled Mark Calcavecchia's 72-hole tournament record and made him just the second wire-to-wire winner in Phoenix Open history. At Merion, he was in the running all four days for the U.S. Open title but lost by two shots to Justin Rose. At that point, he had finished runner-up six times at the U.S. Open. Took some time off for a family vacation in Montana, and after missing the cut at The Greenbrier, enjoyed a great two weeks in Scotland. He first won the Scottish Open over Branden Grace in a playoff. The next week at Muirfield, he entered the final round five strokes behind third-round leader Lee Westwood. A second-nine 32, including a birdie-birdie finish, led to a final-round 66 to win the British Open by three strokes. The victory lifted him to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings and the Official World Golf Ranking. The 43-year-old became the third-consecutive winner of the event over age 40, joining Darren Clarke and Ernie Els, both 42. Also became just the second left-hander to win the British Open, with Bob Charles first performing the feat in 1963. The victory came in his 20th Open start, the most for anyone in that championship's history. Also joined Els as consecutive British Open champions to win the event after being enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In his record, 10th Presidents Cup appearance for the U.S. was 2-2-1 in his five matches. At the end of the year, placed 9th in the FedExCup standings, 4th on the money list and 5th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
2014 Notes: Started the year with a T-2nd finish with Rory McIlroy at Abu Dhabi, one stroke behind winner Pablo Larrazabal. After returning home, Mickelson had to pull out of the Farmers Insurance Open due to oblique soreness. After Abu Dhabi, didn't have a top-10 until finishing runner-up at the PGA Championship. Played in two FedExCup playoffs, then withdrew after two rounds at the BMW Championship. Was not able to play in the Tour Championship for the first time in the FedExCup era. Was 68th in the FedExCup rankings and 38th on the money list. It was only the third year since turning professional that he did not win a tournament on the PGA Tour (other years were 1999 and 2003), and it was the only time he didn't have more than one top-10 for the year on the PGA Tour.
2015 Notes: Earned two top-25 finishes in his first seven starts. But at the Masters, he had his second consecutive runner-up finish in a major, finishing four strokes behind winner Jordan Spieth. One month later, he finished T-4th at the Wells Fargo Championship, then T-3rd at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. For the second consecutive season, finished outside the top-30 and in the 60s in FedExCup points. He finished 61st in the FedExCup standings and 38th on the money list. Went 3-0-1 in his four Presidents Cup matches.
2016 Notes: For the ninth time, Mickelson started his season at the CareerBuilder Challenge, finishing T-3rd. Entered the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a two-stroke lead, shot even-par 72 to finish 2nd (32nd runner-up finish in his 530th PGA Tour start). Finished 5th at the WGC-Cadillac, three strokes behind winner Adam Scott. Was T-4th at the Wells Fargo, two strokes from getting into the playoff. Finished T-2nd at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, three strokes behind Daniel Berger. At the British Open, he became the 26th player in history to shoot a 63 in a major championship. His birdie bid at the 18th hole to become the first player to shoot a 62 in a major lipped out. Broke the opening 36-hole scoring record at Royal Troon with a 10-under 132 total and a one-stroke lead over Henrik Stenson after the second round. Went into the final round one stroke behind Stenson and five ahead of the next-best player but regained the lead at the first hole with a birdie to Stenson's three-putt bogey. Despite a final-round 65, finished runner-up after Stenson shot a 63 for a three-stroke victory. Marked his 11th runner-up in a major championship, second only to Jack Nicklaus (19). Was his 27th top-5 in his 96th major start. Marked his 34th career runner-up, the most of any active player. The runner-up performance was his sixth top-10 of the season, doubling his total from 2015. It would be his last top-10 of the year. He finished 16th in the FedExCup standings and 12th on the money list. Making his 11th Ryder Cup appearance, went 2-1-1 in his four matches in the 17-11 U.S. victory. Went head-to-head in singles with Sergio Garcia, where both players combined for 19 birdies (10 by Mickelson) to halve their match. Combined, the two-shot a score of 14-under 58 at Hazeltine.
2017 Notes: Finished T-8th at the Safeway Open in Napa. On October 19th, he had hernia surgery, on the same day his longtime caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay had double knee-replacement surgery. Mickelson was hoping to recover over four to six weeks but underwent a second sports-hernia procedure on December 12th. On January 19th, 83 days after hitting his last competitive shot at Safeway and six days after making his last practice shot, he played at the CareerBuilder Challenge. He came back in style, birdieing his first hole of the tournament, and finished T-21st. Mickelson played in four more West Coast events and earned his first top-10 at the WGC-Mexico Championship, where he finished T-7th, four strokes behind winner Dustin Johnson. Two weeks later, at the WGC-Dell Match Play, he made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Bill Haas and settled for T-5th.
Mickelson's status for the U.S. Open was up in the air. On the Saturday of The Memorial, he announced that he was going to attend his daughter Amanda's high school graduation, which was the same day as the first round at Erin Hills. He finished 9th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Hoping for some bad weather that never materialized, he withdrew from the U.S. Open to attend Amanda's graduation. A week after that, Mickelson announced that after 25 years together, he was breaking up with his caddie Jim "Bones" Mackay. Mickelson's brother, Tim, would be on his bag for the remainder of the season. In their first event together, Mickelson missed the cut at the British Open, then, in his 100th major at the PGA Championship, also missed the cut. In the FedExCup playoffs, finished T-6th at the Dell Technologies Championship but missed the Tour Championship for the third time in four seasons. Ended his PGA Tour season 34th in the FedExCup standings. As a captain's pick, making his record 12th consecutive appearance in the Presidents Cup, he helped lead the United States to a dominating win, going 3-0-1 for the week.
2018 Notes: Played 24 PGA Tour events, making 21 cuts with six top-10 finishes. Was 21st in the FedExCup standings. Started the year with a T-3rd finish at the Safeway Open, three strokes behind winner Brendan Steele. When the Tour moved to the West Coast swing, Mickelson started slowly, missing the cut at the CareerBuilder Challenge. The next week, he finished T-45th at the Farmers, then T-5th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Was T-2nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he birdied three of his final five holes to finish three strokes behind winner Ted Potter, Jr. The next week, finished in the top-10 for a third consecutive week with a T-6th result at the Genesis Open. At the WGC-Mexico Championship, he started the final round two strokes behind Shubhankar Sharma. Mickelson shot 66 and then defeated Justin Thomas on the first hole of a playoff for his 43rd career PGA Tour win, 96 PGA Tour starts after his last win at the 2013 British Open. It was his first victory with his brother Tim as his caddie. Finished T-5th at the Wells Fargo. Going into the U.S. Open, he placed T-12th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic with a final-round 65. Finished T-48th at the U.S. Open, T-24th at the British Open, and missed the cut at the PGA Championship. Was a captain's pick and played in his 12th consecutive Ryder Cup, surpassing Nick Faldo for most Ryder Cup appearances among either team. Played in two matches and failed to score any points. Lost in his 12th career singles match against Francesco Molinari, 4 & 2. Marked his 23rd consecutive season winning $1 million or more and the 27th consecutive season he finished in the top-125 on the money list, becoming just the second player to reach 27 straight seasons (Davis Love III).
2019 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 12 cuts with two top-10 finishes. Was 47th in the FedExCup standings. T-2nd with Adam Hadwin at the Desert Classic. They were defeated by Adam Long, who made a 13-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole. Mickelson opened the event with a first-round 60 at La Quinta Country Club, becoming the first player in PGA Tour history with three scores of 60 or better. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Mickelson closed with a bogey-free 65 to win by three strokes over Paul Casey. It was his 44th PGA Tour win in 598 starts and came at the age of 48 years, 7 months, and 26 days. The win was his fifth at the AT&T Pebble Beach and happened the same week he made his 500th cut on the PGA Tour. Did not have another top-15 all year, best finish was T-18th at the Masters. In the FedExCup playoffs, was T-71st at the Northern Trust and T-48th at the BMW Championship. For the first time since 1993, did not take part in a Presidents or Ryder Cup, participating in 24 straight.
2020 Notes: Played in 16 PGA Tour events, making nine cuts with two top-10 finishes. Was 75th in the FedExCup standings. Finished 3rd in his title defense at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Shot a final-round 74 and finished five strokes behind winner Nick Taylor. It was Phil's 10th top-three result in 24 starts at the event. In June, he turned 50 and became eligible for the PGA Tour Champions. Was T-2nd at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, his best finish since Pebble Beach, three shots behind winner Justin Thomas. Won the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National, becoming the 20th player to win his PGA Tour Champions debut. Opened with a 10-under 61, becoming the first player to shoot a sub-62 score in his first career round on PGA Tour Champions. Mickelson overcame a three-shot deficit to defeat Mike Weir by three in his second PGA Tour Champions start at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. Mickelson became the third player to win his first two starts on the Champions Tour, joining Jim Furyk and Bruce Fleisher.
2021 Notes: Looking to win his first three PGA Tour Champion starts was T-20th at the Cologuard Classic. Going into the Valero Texas Open and the Masters, this is the first time in his career he hasn't had a finish better than 25th (so far in 2021 his best finish is T-25th at the Honda Classic) at this point of the season.