Phil Mickelson

Lore & Background

Mickelson is one of 17 players in the history of golf to win at least three of the four majors. He has won every major except the U.S. Open, in which he has finished runner-up a record six times. In 2022, Mickelson became the only golfer who has won three different majors to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour, leaving his PGA Tour membership of 30 years. He has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, over 700 weeks in the top 10, and reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times. He is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he learned his left-handed swing by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

In Their Own Story

The August heat at Oakmont hung over the 17th green like a wet towel. Mickelson stood over a putt from twenty-eight feet, the flagstick still in the cup, the gallery a wall of held breath. He didn't look at the crowd. He didn't look at the yardage marker. He simply set his left hand on the putter, felt the groove of the grip, and began his long, sweeping stroke. The ball rolled, broke slightly right, and kissed the edge of the cup before dropping. A murmur rippled through the stands. He tapped the putter against his palm, nodded once to Bones, and walked toward the 18th tee without breaking stride. The scoreboard would show the numbers later. Right now, it was just the green, the flag, and the sound of a ball settling into the cup.

Reader's Guide

Mickelson was born in San Diego, California, and raised there and in Scottsdale, Arizona. He attended the University of San Diego High School, graduating in 1988. He then attended Arizona State University on a golf scholarship, winning three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards (1990, 1991, 1992). He shares the record for most individual NCAA championships with Ben Crenshaw. He led the Sun Devils to the NCAA team title in 1990 and won 16 collegiate tournaments. He was the second collegiate golfer to earn first-team All-American honors all four years. In 1990, he became the first left-handed swing winner of the U.S. Amateur title. He won his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open, as an amateur. He graduated from ASU in June 1992 and turned professional. He bypassed Q-School due to his 1991 win in Tucson. He hired Jim "Bones" Mackay as his caddy in 1992. His first major win came at the 2004 Masters. He shot a career-low 59 at the 2004 PGA Grand Slam of Golf. He won his second major at the 2005 PGA Championship and his third at the 2006 Masters.

Did You Know?

• Mickelson is one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur.
• He ended Tiger Woods's streak of six consecutive PGA Tour victories with his 2000 Buick Invitational win.
• He was the third left-handed swing golfer to win a major, after Bob Charles and Mike Weir.
• Mickelson was dropped from his contract with Titleist/Acushnet in 2004 after a voicemail incident involving Callaway Golf.