St. Jude Classic: Power Rankings for TPC Southwind

Phil Mickelson

This veteran has been in solid form all year long, so his decision to skip the U.S. Open in favor of his daughter’s high school graduation was, while totally understandable, a disappointing one. That means the FedEx St. Jude Classic will be the biggest event on his schedule in the next month, so expect Mickelson to give it his all this week.

Using it as his U.S. Open tune-up, Mickelson has owned this event over the past few years, finding the top three in three of his last four appearances. The 46-year-old has lost some of his winning edge — his last professional trophy came at the 2013 Open Championship — but he’s been as close to winning this event as one can possibly be. While his recent results have been a bit lacking, he’s still notched eight top 25s in 13 events this year, a strong rate of production to go along with a surprisingly busy schedule. At 17th on the PGA TOUR in strokes gained: putting, he’s having an outstanding year on the greens.

Mickelson might not have the U.S. Open to keep him motivated this year, but the flip side is that his game will now be under significantly less scrutiny. At this point, a win seems unlikely, but he’ll almost certainly come close.