Golfing Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson kept the crowd in the match at the Phoenix Open. He started off the tourney with a blistering 59 on the first round and never again relinquished the lead. Phil has become sort of a local hero there in Arizona having now won the open 3 times. During the outing Mickelson made 40 pars, 29 birdies and 1 beautiful eagle. He almost aced 16 on Saturday with a shot that is still being shown on YouTube. It was classic Mickelson golf showing off his smooth putting and power driving and some loco saves from the sand traps, the kind of stuff that has made him the number two all time earner in the history of the PGA.
It was obvious to anyone watching the match that Mickelson was having a good time dancing around the golf course and high fiving everyone. After the match he told the press, “When you haven’t won you want it bad. I hit a lot of good shots today and just did what I had to do to win. That’s all I cared about. In general I feel like my game is on the upswing. It’s important to start building momentum for the upcoming Masters.”
So Lefty, as Mickelson is called by his fans, left Scottsdale with a big trophy and an even bigger ego boost. Nothing like a big win to put you right back up there again.
By the way, although Phil swings his golf clubs left handed, he is right handed in everything else that he does…..now that’s a rather unique situation.
Lefty was thriving over the weekend at Phoenix when the pressure was on.
The most impressive play of the match came on the par 3 seventh hole when Phils’ 5 iron shot sailed long and right, stopping beyond the fringe. He partner for the day, Brandt Snedeker, and Mickelson kept up a lively banter all day but Phil shut him up for a bit when he elected to use his putter and pushed the ball across 55 feet of taller grass and green and right into the hole. He had told his caddie, Jim Mackay, to remove the flagstick so that it wouldn’t deflect the ball if it had too much speed. Wise move. Confident move. Championship play.
About that 7th hole birdie, Lefty commented, “I got lucky to have made it, obviously. I was just trying to 2-putt it.”
