49 Fun Facts About Phil Mickelson

In which California city was Phil Mickelson born and largely raised?

San Diego is home to Torrey Pines, where he won three times; after the course was redesigned in 2001 he said the local knowledge from his boyhood hours there 'went away'.

What was the profession of Mickelson's father, Phil Sr.?

Airline pilot: Phil Sr. flew Navy jets before joining the airlines, and he turned the family's backyard into a practice green where his son honed his short game.

Why does the naturally right-handed Mickelson play golf left-handed?

He mirrored his father's swing, standing opposite him as a small boy and copying what he saw; Bob Charles, the first left-hander to win a major, was a natural right-hander too.

Mickelson's maternal grandfather Alfred Santos was a caddie at which course?

Pebble Beach opened in 1919 with young Al Santos among its caddies; Mickelson marks his ball there with a silver dollar his grandfather carried for decades.

Which university did Mickelson attend on a golf scholarship?

Arizona State: he won a PGA Tour event while still a student there, so on graduating in 1992 he skipped qualifying school and went straight onto the Tour.

Mickelson matched which 1970s Texas Longhorn's three straight Haskins Awards?

Ben Crenshaw won the first three Haskins Awards, given to the year's outstanding college golfer; even Tiger Woods took it only once, in 1996, before leaving Stanford after two years.

Which title did Mickelson win in 1990 by beating Manny Zerman in the final?

U.S. Amateur: the win earned him a place in the 1991 Masters, where the 20-year-old college junior finished as low amateur in a tie for 46th.

Mickelson's 1991 win in Tucson made him the last amateur to win on the PGA Tour until which player in 2024?

Nick Dunlap, an Alabama student, won the American Express 33 years after the 20-year-old Mickelson made a triple bogey with five holes left and still birdied 16 and 18 to win by one.

Who became Mickelson's caddie in 1992 and stayed for 25 years?

Jim 'Bones' Mackay carried the bag for five of Mickelson's six majors before they split in 2017, when he swapped it for a microphone as a television golf commentator.

Mickelson's 2000 Buick Invitational win stopped Tiger Woods's winning streak five short of whose record?

Byron Nelson won 11 tournaments in a row in 1945; Woods's six matched Ben Hogan's 1948 run, and Mickelson said afterwards that he had no wish to be 'the bad guy'.

From what lie did Mickelson thread a 6-iron between two trees onto the 13th green at the 2010 Masters?

Pine straw: with tree trunks in front of him and Rae's Creek before the green 200 yards away, he fired a 6-iron onto the green, then misread the short eagle putt that would have stretched his lead.

How did Mickelson clinch the 2004 Masters on the final hole?

An 18-foot birdie putt set off his famous jump for joy; he had gone out in 38 and came home in a bogey-free 31, with birdies on five of the last seven holes.

Who finished runner-up to Mickelson at the 2004 Masters?

Ernie Els made two eagles in a closing 67 and had posted a total that looked good for at least a playoff, until Mickelson birdied the last hole to beat him by one.

Which manufacturer did Mickelson join shortly before the 2004 Ryder Cup, after leaving Titleist early?

Callaway: his Titleist deal ended 16 months early, and at the Ryder Cup that followed he and Tiger Woods lost both their matches together.

Mickelson shot his career-low 59 in 2004 at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, an off-season event in which state?

Hawaii: at Poipu Bay he faced the year's other three major winners, but because the 59 came in an off-season exhibition, his best score in Tour play stayed at 60.

Mickelson won his first PGA Championship in 2005 at which course?

Baltusrol: bad weather pushed the finish to Monday, when he reached the last hole tied for the lead, chipped out of deep rough to tap-in range and won by one.

Who won the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot after Mickelson double-bogeyed the last?

Geoff Ogilvy chipped in at the 17th and parred the last, then watched Mickelson, who needed a par to win, make double bogey and say, 'I am such an idiot.'

Where did Mickelson's drive on the 17th at Winged Foot in 2006 famously come to rest?

Inside a garbage can: he took a free drop, found the green and saved par to stay one ahead, only to double-bogey the next hole and lose by a shot.

Which swing coach did Mickelson hire in 2007 after leaving Rick Smith?

Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods's former coach, was hired to fix Mickelson's wayward tee shots, and within a month his new pupil had won The Players Championship.

After Amy Mickelson's 2009 cancer diagnosis, what did PGA Tour players do in support at Colonial?

Dressed in pink: the 'Pink Out' came at the event Mickelson had been due to defend, and he returned to the Tour weeks later after doctors said the cancer had been caught early.

Who finished three shots behind Mickelson at the 2010 Masters?

Lee Westwood led by five on Saturday until Mickelson went eagle, eagle, then a birdie inches from a third eagle at 13, 14 and 15; a bogey-free 67 on Sunday won it by three.

Which CBS announcer called Mickelson's final putt at the 2010 Masters 'a win for the family'?

Jim Nantz made the call as the last putt dropped; Amy, a year into treatment for breast cancer, had reached the course only for the finish, and the couple's long embrace by the green followed.

Which condition did Mickelson reveal he had been diagnosed with before the 2010 PGA Championship?

Psoriatic arthritis struck just before that June's U.S. Open and left him in so much pain he could not walk; weekly injections had it under control within weeks.

Which putting grip did Mickelson adopt at The Barclays in 2012?

The claw followed a summer of putting trouble in which he missed the cut at the Open; a week after the switch he tied for fourth at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Who beat Mickelson by two at the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion, his record sixth runner-up finish in the event?

Justin Rose finished two ahead of Mickelson, who led after 54 holes and holed out from 76 yards for an eagle at the 10th before bogeys on the way home left him second yet again.

Which event did Mickelson win the week before his 2013 Claret Jug triumph?

Scottish Open: he three-putted the 72nd hole to fall into a playoff, then beat Branden Grace at the first extra hole for his first individual title in Britain.

At which links did Mickelson win the 2013 Open Championship?

Muirfield: he began the final day five shots back in a tie for ninth, came home in 32 for a 66 and finished as the only player under par.

Where did Mickelson's drive on the Road Hole land during the 2015 Open at St Andrews?

A hotel balcony: the drive flew out of bounds onto the second floor of the Old Course Hotel, and the triple-bogey 7 ended a late charge that had taken him within two of the lead.

At which course did Mickelson open the 2016 Open with a 63?

Royal Troon: the putt for the first 62 in a major looked sure to drop before it spun out, and he said he wanted to shed a tear; Branden Grace shot that 62 a year later.

Who shot a final-round 63 to beat Mickelson's 65 at the 2016 Open?

Henrik Stenson needed a record-low total of 264 to win; Mickelson's bogey-free 65 lost by three, yet still left him 11 shots clear of the man in third place.

Why did Mickelson skip the 2017 U.S. Open?

His daughter's graduation: Amanda's high school ceremony fell on the day of the first round at Erin Hills, and he said being there was a moment he would always cherish.

Mickelson ended a five-year winless run at the 2018 WGC-Mexico by beating whom in a playoff?

Justin Thomas flew the green on the first extra hole and could not save par, so a par was enough for Mickelson, 47, to end a drought that went back to the 2013 Open.

What did Mickelson do at the 2018 U.S. Open that drew a two-stroke penalty on the 13th?

Hit a moving ball: his putt was rolling off the 13th green at Shinnecock when he ran after it and knocked it back toward the hole; days later he apologised, saying anger had got the best of him.

In which city did Mickelson beat Tiger Woods over 22 holes for a winner-takes-all $9 million?

Las Vegas: at Shadow Creek the pair were level after 18 and again after replaying the last, so the finish moved to a makeshift 93-yard hole from the putting green, where Mickelson won at the 22nd in near-darkness.

Mickelson's fifth AT&T Pro-Am win in 2019 tied whose record for that event?

Mark O'Meara won his fifth in 1997; Mickelson's first, a year later, was rained off in February and not finished until August, and his fifth came 21 years after that, at the age of 48.

Which U.S. Ryder Cup captain did Mickelson criticise at the losing team's press conference in 2014?

Tom Watson sat at the same table as Mickelson said the team had strayed from Paul Azinger's winning formula of 2008; within weeks the PGA of America set up a task force with Mickelson on it.

Where did Mickelson become the oldest major champion at the 2021 PGA Championship?

Kiawah Island: at 50 he took a record Julius Boros had held since 1968, and fans flooded the final fairway to mob him before he could finish the hole.

Which two players finished two shots behind Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship?

Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen shared second: Koepka, playing alongside Mickelson, faded to a 74, while Oosthuizen came to grief at the 13th hole two days running.

Which accounting firm, whose logo sat on Mickelson's cap from 2008, split with him after his 2022 remarks about LIV Golf?

KPMG ended the partnership on 22 February 2022, the day he apologised for 'reckless' remarks; Amstel Light and Workday went too, and he did not play again until June.

Which LIV Golf chief announced in June 2022 that Mickelson would play its first event?

Greg Norman, LIV's chief executive, hailed him as one of the greatest golfers of his generation; three days later, on the opening day near London, the PGA Tour suspended Mickelson and 16 others.

Mickelson gave back about $1 million in 2016 over trades in which company's stock, made on a gambler's tip?

Dean Foods: the SEC said gambler Billy Walters, to whom Mickelson owed money, urged him to buy the stock; Mickelson was not charged but forfeited his $931,000 profit, and Walters was later convicted.

Mickelson appeared as himself in which 1996 golf film?

Tin Cup: he appears without a line among the real tour pros at the film's U.S. Open, where Kevin Costner's driving-range pro refuses to lay up and keeps hitting into the water.

Mickelson's first U.S. Open runner-up finish came at Pinehurst in 1999, one shot behind which champion?

Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot par putt on the final green to win by one; four months later he died in a plane crash, and a statue at Pinehurst now recalls his celebration.

Which honor did Mickelson receive in 2012?

Hall of Fame induction came at 41 with his career far from over: he won the 2013 Open and the 2021 PGA Championship as a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Mickelson's signature high, short wedge shot from a tight lie is known as what?

The Phil flop is a full swing with a very lofted wedge, and he usually carries one of 64 degrees; a towering wedge over a tree from thick rough set up his winning putt at Colonial in 2008.

What did Mickelson pay for after learning of ex-NFL lineman Conrad Dobler's hardship?

His daughter's college tuition: medical bills for Dobler's paralyzed wife, Joy, had taken a heavy toll, so Mickelson, who had never met the family, paid for Holli's studies at Miami University.

What did Mickelson carry two of when he won the 2006 Masters, one set up for draws and one for fades?

Drivers: the week before, with the same pair in the bag, he had won the BellSouth Classic by 13 shots at 28 under par, and the setup then carried him to a second green jacket.

In which country did Mickelson play a European Tour event in early 2020 that Tiger Woods had turned down?

Saudi Arabia: Woods passed up a reported $3 million to stay away, while Mickelson faced a backlash for joining the Saudi International and went on to tie for third.

Whom did Mickelson lose to in Sunday singles at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris?

Francesco Molinari sealed Europe's victory when Mickelson, three down, hit into the water at the 16th and conceded; it made Molinari the first European to win five points out of five.