Phil

Mickelson C

The young Phil Mickelson started playing golf under his father’s tuition – and the fact that he would mirror his dad’s right-handed swing explains why he plays the game left-handed.

He grew up in San Diego, California, and practiced extensively in the family’s back yard.

Once he went to Arizona State University on a golf scholarship, however, he was strictly front of house.

Mickelson won three individual NCAA Championships – a record he shares with Ben Crenshaw. He won a total of 16 tournaments while he was at college, including the US Amateur in 1990.

Less than a year later, while still an amateur and only 20 years old, he recorded his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Northern Telecom Open in Tucson.

It was the first Tour victory by an amateur for more than five years, and nobody repeated the feat until Nick Dunlap won The American Express in 2024.

Phil Mickelson turned pro as soon as he graduated in 1992, buoyed by the two-year exemption granted by his Tucson victory.

Through the rest of the decade, he was a regular visitor to the winner’s circle – and one of the most high-profile and popular players on the PGA Tour.

One reason he stood out was the fact he played left-handed, but another was the attacking nature of his play, particularly with driver in hand.

Mickelson says the golfer he admired most was Seve Ballesteros for his “style and flair”, and there was something of the legendary Spaniard in the risk-taking and creative shot making that characterized the approach of the man universally known as Lefty.

Mickelson was well known for his superlative short game. This included the ability to play flop shots with his wedge that steepled almost vertically into the air before landing close to the pin.

However, as he steadily piled up what was eventually to be a total of 45 PGA Tour wins, his pursuit of glory in the Majors was a vain one for more than a decade.

At the end of 2003, by which time Mickelson was 33 years of age, he had finished in the top 10 17 times without winning one of the game’s most prestigious prizes.

By the time the field teed off at Augusta in the spring of 2004, Phil Mickelson was the undisputed holder of the title “Best player never to win a Major”. And that appeared unlikely to change after he shot 72 on day one.

But two rounds of 69 gave him the joint lead heading into the final round and, after an early stumble, he flew home with five birdies in the last seven holes – including one on the 18th – to seal victory by one shot.

With the Major bogey finally laid, Mickelson went on to win a total of six of the game’s highest honors. He took the PGA Championship in 2005 and the British Open in 2013.

The only Major to elude him was the US Open, in which he finished second or joint second six times – including an infamous collapse in 2006 when, needing to par the last to win, he hit a driver way off line and finished with a double bogey.

Perhaps his most memorable triumph came in 2021 when he became, at the age of 50, the oldest man to win a Major. He had changed his mindset considerably in the previous decade, and later said he was in a “bubble of calm” as a rapturous crowd at the PGA Championship roared him to a two-shot win.

He had, he said simply, learned how to win in a different way.

Three of Phil Mickelson’s Major wins came at the USA’s most iconic course, Augusta.

Having broken his Major duck there in 2004, he returned there to join an elite band who have won the Masters three times or more.

He was fitted for his second Green Jacket after a two-shot win in 2006, then captured a third in 2010 thanks to a bogey-free final round of 67.

Mickelson finished in the top 10 at Augusta no fewer than 16 times – and the 16th was as dramatic as any of the others. In 2023, he teed off for his final round 10 shots back, but revived memories of past glories with a run of five birdies in his last seven holes that put him in a tie for second place.

Phil Mickelson was arguably the highest profile recruit to LIV Golf in 2022 – and it is a decision he has never regretted.

“I fully believe this was the right thing to do,” he told Fairway To Heaven. “That’s why so many guys on LIV are the characters in the game; because they have the guts to play the game differently, or they have the guts to go down the road they believe is right, no matter what other people say.”

He admits that he expected to be criticized, but he was “happy and excited” to be involved, and has bought in completely to the team aspect. He has a blast with his HyFlyers team, he says, adding: “The experience on LIV is 10 out of 10… it’s the greatest experience to come and play.”

While a lifelong competitor like Mickelson will always back himself to compete at the highest level, he admits he has struggled unexpectedly in one area of his game.

“Surprisingly, if you look at the analytics, it’s been my short game that’s just crushed me the last few years,” says Mickelson. “I’ve been like last in scrambling on LIV. It’s been a staple of my game throughout my career, and the last couple years it’s been the reason why I have not scored and had the results.”

Phil Mickelson met Amy McBride in 1992, when they were both students at Arizona State University. He was the star golfer, she was a cheerleader for the Phoenix Suns… and the couple have been together ever since.

In 2009, Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Mickelson took a break from golf to care for her, but shortly after he returned to the course he was hit by the news that his mother had the same disease. To the relief of Mickelson and his colleagues and many fans, both women recovered.

Since 2004, the couple have run the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation, which supports a range of youth and family initiatives.

Phil Mickelson ended his long association with Callaway in 2024, but he still uses many of the brand’s clubs.

He usually plays with a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver, along with Callaway, Ping and TaylorMade fairway woods and hybrids.

His irons and the wedges that are so key to his pitching and chipping are all made by Callaway, while he uses an Odyssey 9 putter. He plays with Callaway Chrome Soft X Triple Track balls.

When Phil Mickelson appeared on the Fairway To Heaven LIV Golf podcast in 2024, he gave a revealing insight into his career – and the way his mindset has changed over the years.

Playing in LIV Golf wearing shorts has brought plenty of attention to his well-defined calves. Indeed, the calves are so famous that they have their own Instagram account!

One of the most insightful moments arrived when he discussed the letter he would send to his younger self. He said he would advise a youthful Mickelson that happiness is peace, rather than short bursts of pleasure.

Mickelson has spoken openly about his gambling addiction, revealing on his official X channel in August 2023: “I have previously conveyed my remorse, took responsibility, have gotten  help, have been fully committed to therapy that has positively impacted me and I feel good about where I am now.”

He says he is “now able to sit still, be present in the moment and live each day with an inner calm and peace”.

Mickelson also thanked his wife Amy for her steadfast support in his “darkest and most difficult times”, admitting: “I couldn’t have gotten through this without her.”

After a long and successful career at the highest level of professional golf, Phil Mickelson has amassed a considerable fortune from the sport.

His net worth has been estimated at between $300million and $400million, though the man himself offered a far higher number in what may have been a tongue-in-cheek response to a social media barb.

In 2023, an X user asked a pointed question about his gambling and Mickelson responded curtly: “Haven’t gambled in years. Almost a billionaire now. Thanks for asking.”

Mickelson’s wealth has been boosted by his LIV contract, but he also continues to enjoy lucrative commercial deals with a string of big-name sponsors.

Among his backers through the years have been Rolex, Exxon Mobil, KPMG, Ford, and VistaJet. He wears the HyFlyers logo on his shirt and hat. Forbes magazine placed him seventh in the world table of sportspeople as recently as 2023, with earnings of $106million.

As he approaches his mid-fifties, Phil Mickelson could be forgiven for walking away from the game he has played for so long and living the quiet life.

It is clear, however, that his love of golf continues to consume him. He still wants to be out there competing on the course for the biggest prizes in the sport, while accepting that his future may soon lie in more ambassadorial and administrative roles.

He is still eligible to play in all four Majors until 2026, and has exemptions at The Open Championship, the Masters and the PGA for much longer. And he is obviously fully committed to LIV Golf.

Mickelson says: “I would love to compete and give myself a chance to win in those Majors, and I also want to build LIV Golf out and create a culture that is sustainable and that people strive to be a part of.

“How I do that, whether it’s internally as a player and so forth, or whether it’s strictly from the outside, I’m going to be intricately involved with the HyFlyers going forward probably for the rest of my life.”

Phil Mickelson step aside from golf? It’ll never happen. And given how much entertainment he has given legions of fans of the sport across the world through the decades, that can only be good news.