Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Phil Mickelson: THE PLAYERS Championship won’t be a waste of time

By Brandon Raper

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 07: Phil Mickelson of the United States plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard at the Bay Hill Club on March 07, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 07: Phil Mickelson of the United States plays his tee shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard at the Bay Hill Club on March 07, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Phil Mickelson will tee it up this week at TPC Sawgrass for his 26th go-round at THE PLAYERS Championship. While Lefty has been vocal about choosing not to play courses that don’t suit him, this week won’t likely be a waste of time for the Hall of Famer.

Phil Mickelson made some waves this past fall, when he vented a lot of frustration after Team USA’s losing effort in the Ryder Cup. While he admitted that he had been playing poorly leading into the biannual event at Le Golf National in Paris, he vocally took issue with the course setup. Le Golf National, you see, was set up with narrow fairways and punitive rough – features which forced guys like Phil to play a different game than they’re used to week-to-week on the PGA TOUR.

“The fact is, they had brutal rough – almost unplayable – and it’s not the way I play. I don’t play like that,” Mickelson said at the PGA Tour opening Safeway Classic in Napa. “And I’m 48. I’m not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It’s a waste of my time. I’m going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, style of golf I like to play.”

It was that last part that caught everyone’s attention. Waste of time? Not going to play tournaments “like that” anymore? What did that mean for the year to come? Certainly there’s no doubt about Mickelson’s ability to play just about anywhere in the world, but what events would miss this new standard?

So far, the only significant event that has gotten the axe from Mickelson’s slate is the Farmers Insurance Open, basically a home game at Torrey Pines in San Diego. To be fair, that event would have led to Phil playing six straight weeks, but let’s not pretend that he’s enjoyed his results at Torrey in recent years. He’s had just one top-ten there since 2009, and for all its beauty, the test provided by both the North and South courses to Tour pros is one of the tougher ones in golf.

All of this brings us to this week at THE PLAYERS Championship. The Pete Dye classic known as the Stadium Course has given golfers a total test of their game since 1982. It’s only fitting, of course, that the home of the PGA TOUR has a course built specifically for its premier event. And as of Friday, immediately following a disastrous missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Mickelson still hadn’t fully committed to the event.

“It’s not one I feel like I have to play,” Mickelson told Golf Channel after his win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. “It’s not a must-play for me because I’m 48 and I’ve played it 25 times and I’ve already won it. If I were young and early in my career, I would say yes because I think it’s as close to a major as it can get. But it’s not the best course for me.”

More from Pro Golf Now

Best course or not, Phil made his mind up pretty quickly. By Sunday afternoon, he was Tweeting from Sawgrass and beaming, comparing the late-winter conditions to Augusta National, and remarking about the fact that he missed the cut in Phoenix right before his win at Pebble.

So what should we expect from Phil Mickelson at THE PLAYERS Championship? If we’re being realistic, he hasn’t played great golf in four of his last five starts. However, he hasn’t been consistently bad, just inconsistent, which might be worse for a player of such remarkable talent. Lefty opened both Phoenix and Bay Hill with rounds of 68. Then he shot 75 and 78, respectively, to miss both cuts. He opened with a 79 in Mexico, then battled back with a 65 the next day.

Hot and cold golf won’t get it done at TPC Sawgrass, even for a player of Phil Mickelson’s caliber. But experience does go a long way, and that’s something that few players in the field this week, save for Tiger Woods, can match with Lefty. If he can simply rein in his long game and start sinking a few putts, he can be as dangerous as they come, especially as the weather starts to pick up over the weekend.

THE PLAYERS Championship Power Rankings. dark. Next

One thing is for sure, though. Phil Mickelson is always entertaining whenever he tees it up and this week is sure to be more of the same. With just four weeks until The Masters, this will be a great test to see just where Mickelson’s game is against the best the PGA TOUR has to offer.

Home/Phil Mickelson