50 Fun Facts About Phil Mickelson

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

He honed his short game on an extensive practice area his father built in the family's backyard.

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

His flying schedule left time to play golf with Phil several times a week.

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

He learned by standing opposite his right-handed father and copying him like a reflection.

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

Alfred is also Mickelson's middle name; the grandfather took Phil out to play as a boy.

Which university did Mickelson attend on a golf scholarship?

He won three NCAA individual titles there, a record he shares with Ben Crenshaw, and led the Sun Devils to the 1990 team title.

How many Haskins Awards as outstanding collegiate golfer did Mickelson win?

He took the award in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and won 16 college tournaments in all.

Whom did Mickelson beat in the final of the 1990 U.S. Amateur?

Zerman was a high school teammate; the 5 and 4 win at Cherry Hills made Mickelson the first left-handed U.S. Amateur champion.

Which event did Mickelson win as an amateur in 1991, earning a PGA Tour exemption?

He made a triple bogey with five holes left in Tucson, then birdied 16 and 18 to win by a shot.

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

They parted by mutual agreement in 2017, a week after Mickelson skipped the U.S. Open for his daughter's graduation.

Mickelson's 2000 Buick Invitational win ended a streak of how many straight Tiger Woods victories?

'I didn't want to be the bad guy,' Mickelson said afterwards. 'I was just trying to win the golf tournament.'

What label was Mickelson stuck with before his 2004 Masters breakthrough?

He had 17 top-tens in majors and six second- or third-place finishes between 1999 and 2003.

How long was the birdie putt on the 72nd hole that won Mickelson the 2004 Masters?

Ernie Els finished a stroke back after the pair traded birdies and eagles on the back nine from different groups.

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

Mickelson became only the third left-handed swinger to win a major, after Bob Charles and Mike Weir.

A leaked voicemail praising which manufacturer's gear got Mickelson dropped by Titleist in 2004?

He was released from his Titleist deal 16 months early and took ridicule for switching equipment just before the Ryder Cup.

What career-low 18-hole score did Mickelson shoot at the 2004 PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Hawaii?

He later matched his 60 in competition at the 2013 Phoenix Open, where a 25-footer for 59 lipped out.

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

Rain pushed the finish to Monday; he pitched to 18 inches on the last to beat Steve Elkington and Thomas Bjørn by one.

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

Needing par, Mickelson hit driver, bounced off a hospitality tent, hit a tree and plugged in a bunker.

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

He was granted a free drop and saved par there; it was the next hole that undid him.

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

Harmon had previously coached Tiger Woods and Greg Norman; Mickelson won The Players a month later.

Which golfer wore bright pink trousers in 2009 in support of Mickelson's wife Amy?

Amy had been diagnosed with breast cancer; the Tour later staged a 'Pink Out' at Colonial.

Who finished three shots behind Mickelson at the 2010 Masters?

Mickelson's Saturday run of eagle, eagle and a near-eagle on 13, 14 and 15 turned the tournament.

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

Both Mickelson's wife and mother were dealing with cancer that year, and he greeted Amy with a long embrace.

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

He became a vegetarian to aid treatment and finished T12 that week behind Martin Kaymer.

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

Putting woes had cost him cuts that summer, including at the Open.

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

Mickelson led by one entering Sunday, holed out for eagle at the 10th, then bogeyed 13, 15 and 18.

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

He beat Branden Grace in a playoff; nobody had won that event and the Open in the same year before.

At which links did Mickelson win the 2013 Open Championship?

He birdied four of the last six for a closing 66 and called it 'arguably the best round of my career'.

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

The out-of-bounds drive onto the Old Course Hotel led to a triple-bogey 7 that ended his challenge.

What did Mickelson shoot in the first round of the 2016 Open at Royal Troon?

It set a course record and tied the major-championship low; a 15-footer for 62 on the last just missed.

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

Mickelson finished 11 shots clear of third place, a record margin for a major runner-up.

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

Two weeks earlier he had finished ninth at the St. Jude Classic for a second straight year.

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

At 47 he became the oldest winner of a WGC event; Thomas flew the green on the first extra hole.

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

He shot 81; former coach Butch Harmon thought he should have been disqualified.

What was the winner-takes-all prize when Mickelson beat Tiger Woods in The Match in 2018?

It took 22 holes at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas before Mickelson holed a four-footer.

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

At 48 he was also the oldest winner of the event, beating Paul Casey by three.

Mickelson won his PGA Tour Champions debut in 2020 at which course?

He was the 20th player to win his first start on the senior tour, and tied its record 191 total.

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

He was 50 years, 11 months and 7 days old, and was mobbed by fans walking up the 72nd fairway.

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

Koepka, his playing partner, was stranded in the crowd that swarmed the final fairway.

Which sponsors did Mickelson lose after his 2022 comments about Saudi backers of LIV Golf?

Workday also walked; Mickelson then skipped the Masters and the PGA he had won the year before.

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

The PGA Tour suspended Mickelson and 16 others on the opening day of the London event.

Trades in which company's stock led the SEC to fine Mickelson more than $931,000?

Gambler Billy Walters was convicted; it emerged Mickelson had once owed him nearly $2 million in gambling debts.

Mickelson appeared as himself in which 1996 Kevin Costner golf film?

It was a non-speaking role.

How many times has Mickelson finished runner-up at the U.S. Open, the only major he has not won?

That is an event record; only Jack Nicklaus's seven seconds at the Open Championship beats it in any major.

How many PGA Tour events has Mickelson won?

Six of them are majors: three Masters, two PGA Championships and one Open.

In which year was Mickelson inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame?

He had entered the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame four years earlier; his ancestry is Portuguese, Swedish and Sicilian.

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

A huge swing with a high-lofted wedge sends the ball almost straight up and barely forward.

Mickelson paid college tuition for the daughter of which retired NFL player after an ESPN story?

He also once handed a spectator $200 after a wayward tee shot at Doral broke the man's watch.

Mickelson and his wife started a teacher sponsorship fund with which corporate sponsor?

His endorsements dwarfed his prize money: in 2011 an estimated $53 million of $62 million came from sponsors.

Which country's event did Mickelson play in 2020, skipping Phoenix for the first time since 1989?

He said he had turned down Middle East trips for years; he finished tied third.

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

He also lost 5 and 4 in foursomes with Bryson DeChambeau as the US fell 17.5–10.5.