Phil Mickelson

Lefty, six-time major champion and oldest major winner in history.

Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021), and one Open Championship (2013). With his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson became the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months, and 7 days. He is nicknamed "Lefty", as he plays left-handed.

Quick Facts

Full name: Philip Alfred Mickelson
Nickname: Lefty
Born: 16 June 1970
Birthplace: San Diego, California, U.S.
Height: 6 ft 3 in / 1.91 m
Weight: 201 lb / 91.2 kg
Spouse: Amy McBride (1996)
Children: 3

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. Mickelson has spent more than 25 consecutive years in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He has spent over 700 weeks in the top 10, has reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 several times and is a life member of the PGA Tour. Although naturally right-handed, he is known for his left-handed swing, having learned it by mirroring his right-handed father's swing. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.

Reader's Guide

Mickelson's first major championship win came in his thirteenth year on the PGA Tour in 2004, when he secured victory in the Masters with an 18 ft birdie putt on the final hole. He was only the second golfer with a left-handed swing to win a major, joining New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, who won The Open Championship in 1963. (Mike Weir, who won the Masters in 2003, is naturally right-handed and plays right-handed, so he is not a left-handed-swing winner.)

Did You Know?

Mickelson is one of the few golfers to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur, winning the Northern Telecom Open in 1991.
He shares the record for most individual NCAA championships (three) alongside Ben Crenshaw.