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PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson turns 50 – what’s next for Lefty?

By Tim Letcher

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 12: Phil Mickelson of the United States 9during the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 12, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 12: Phil Mickelson of the United States 9during the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 12, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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On Tuesday, Phil Mickelson turned 50 years old. While that has meant the end to many players’ careers on the PGA Tour, what does it mean for Lefty?

Phil Mickelson had a monumental birthday on Tuesday, turning 50. That number signals the end of PGA Tour careers for many players, but what does it mean for Mickelson?

First of all, 50 these days is not what it used to be. In days past, 50 years old was seen as old or past prime. That’s one of the reasons the Champions Tour was created, for players who seemingly could not compete against younger players on the PGA Tour. It was basically a concession that the player was old, so he would go play what was once known as the Senior Tour.

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This is most certainly not the case for Mickelson. Lefty is still playing at a very high level and still hits bombs off the tee. He’s also in good physical shape (ask him about his calves) and, other than the psoriatic arthritis he deals with, has largely avoided injury during his career.

Mickelson is showing some signs of aging. He was won 44 times in his career on the PGA Tour, but only twice in the last six seasons. Granted, that’s better than most players, but this is a Hall of Famer we are talking about here. Even Mickelson would say that he would have expected to win more during that span.

In the past six seasons, Mickelson has also seen his FedEx Cup standing fall from where he once was. He finished fifth in 2012 and ninth in 2013, but has only been near that once in the last six years. He was 68th in 2014 and 61st in 2015.

He was able to finish 16th in 2016 but slipped back to 34th in 2017. He got to the Tour Championship again in 2018, finishing 21st overall, followed by a 47th-place finish last season.

The 2020 season has been a struggle for Lefty. He has played in nine events and made just four cuts. He has only one top 10 finish and that came at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a site where Mickelson annually plays very well. Other than that, his best finish is a tie for 28th at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in November.

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Last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge, Mickelson missed the cut. He shot 69-71 to finish at even par at Colonial Country Club, two shots shy of making it to the weekend. He’s not in the field at this week’s RBC Heritage.

Mickelson will continue to play on the PGA Tour and will not play much, if at all, on the Champions Tour at this point. At least for now. So as golf fans, we should try to enjoy seeing Phil and his go-for-broke style on tour while we still can.

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