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PGA Tour: Phil Mickelson looks for great story at Workday Charity Open

By Tim Letcher

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT - JUNE 28: Phil Mickelson of the United States gives a thumbs up on the 18th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 28, 2020 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT - JUNE 28: Phil Mickelson of the United States gives a thumbs up on the 18th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands on June 28, 2020 in Cromwell, Connecticut. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Phil Mickelson helped put the Workday Charity Open together for the PGA Tour. Now, he hopes to write a great story at the event this week

When the John Deere Classic was canceled, the PGA Tour was in need of a replacement in its revised schedule. That’s when Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and others came up with the concept of the Workday Charity Open, to be played at Muirfield Village Golf Club, a Nicklaus-designed course where the Memorial is held every year (and will be held next week).

Nicklaus thought it made perfect sense for his course to host two straight weeks of play, especially with the tour in need of a tournament. And Mickelson and his team got one of Lefty’s main sponsors, Workday, to be the tournament sponsor. And just like that, this event came together.

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Now, Mickelson has a shot to make a few special things happen. The first, of course, would be if he was able to win at an event that he helped put together, just by being a good citizen. That would make for a great story and would more than thrill Workday, the company whose name is on Mickelson’s cap each and every time he plays.

Second, Mickelson could win at Muirfield Village, a place where he has never won in his career

The Dublin, Ohio, course, which generally hosts only the Memorial Tournament each year, sees the tour stop sometime around the end of May or beginning of June. Many seasons, Mickelson is already finished winning by that point in the schedule and this is one of the spots where he has not claimed one of his 44 PGA Tour titles.

Finally, Mickelson would love to become just the eighth player to win on the PGA Tour after the age of 50. It was last done by Davis Love III in the 2015 Wyndham Championship and it’s definitely something that Lefty is aiming to do this season.

Mickelson played well at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago. He held the 36-hole lead before a terrible weekend left him outside the top 20 for the week. However, that event showed that there is still some Mickelson magic left.

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Lefty will need every bit of that magic this week if he’s going to top a field that includes Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, among others. But if he can overcome all of the factors working against him, it would certainly make for a heart-warming story this week in central Ohio.

The prediction here is that Mickelson will hang around for a while before lack of success on the course and Father Time catch up with him. Look for Lefty to contend until the weekend, then fall off the pace.

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