Win or Lose, Seeing Vintage Phil Mickelson at 2016 Open Championship Is a Treat
It was old-school Phil Mickelson.
Over a few Saturday minutes on the 18th hole at Royal Troon, the 46-year-old showed the smorgasbord of moods and magic those who’ve followed his game for decades have grown accustomed to.
He grimaced as he watched a drive tango with the fairway’s right-side fringe. He barked as camera clicks interrupted the downswing of a second shot that found a green-side bunker. He studied before casually flicking the ball to a cozy three feet. He pumped his fist as the short putt dropped for a gritty par.
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And as he stood alone waiting for playing partner Henrik Stenson, the Day 3 leader, to finish, he smiled.
It was surely a smile of relief for having escaped a blustery Scottish afternoon within a shot of hoisting a second Claret Jug since 2013. And perhaps a smile of concession that as the birthdays add up and the career clock clicks down, he may be enjoying the twilight even more than the limelight.
It’s the way those of us watching ought to feel.
Because as great as Lefty’s been while racking up multiple majors and mountains of money, the three days he’s had during trip No. 23 to The Open Championship have got to rate highly thanks to the echoes of past brilliance he’s woken up through 54 holes.
He was a shot off a major championship record after 18 and 10 under par after 36, but he saved some special moments for Day 3—particularly during a three-hole stretch at Nos. 11, 12 and 13.
A missed green at 11 preceded a chip to eight feet and a clutch par, and the ante was upped on 12 when his drive bounced off the gorse and set up a punch shot into the fairway. A chip from there soared past the hole before spinning back like a yo-yo and setting up another unlikely par.
Then, on 13, a 30-footer for birdie set the slimmer, trimmer way-back machine into high gear.
“The fact is that from 10 years ago, when I was playing my best golf, I'm 25 pounds lighter, I'm in better shape, and I'm physically stronger than I was,” he said after Friday’s round, per USA Today's Steve DiMeglio.
“I feel better and I'm playing, now that my swing is back on plane, I'm starting to hit some shots like I did 10 years ago and starting to play some of my best golf again.”
The numbers back up his claim. And not just the ones on the scale.
Mickelson closed 2013 at No. 5 in the world after three wins and five other top-10 finishes that year. But winless seasons in both 2014 and 2015 saw him dip to 14th and 34th, respectively.
Ironically, his last victory came in the 2013 Open, where he bested Stenson by three shots.
His play at 11 subsequent majors had been spotty since, including runner-up finishes at the 2014 PGA and the 2015 Masters alongside missed cuts at the 2014 and 2016 Masters and the 2016 U.S. Open.
He'll have a huge edge in spotlight know-how over the majorless Stenson come Sunday.
But whether he adds a sixth major by day’s end or not, the significance of prolonged prowess at advanced age—he was ranked 19th in the world to begin the week—can’t help but augment his long-term street cred.
Mickelson has been ranked 50th or better to end every calendar year since 1993, including each of the six since he celebrated birthday No. 40 in June 2010.
By contrast, longtime contemporary Tiger Woods—though his major total is nearly triple—began his 40s as the world’s No. 416 player in December and has since plummeted another 199 places to 615.
Woods hasn’t played since last summer and has shown no signs he’ll return to relevance.
Mickelson, meanwhile, already has two seconds, a third and two other top-10 finishes this season.
Claret Jug or not, he’ll leave Europe with a chance to return to the winner’s circle—thanks to a steadiness and longevity that are becoming defining, positive narratives of a career initially destined to hold permanent second-banana status in Woods’ long shadow.
Big hitters break down. Precise putters lose their radar.
The true technicians, though, find a way to stay in the hunt on sheer smarts.
“Phil Mickelson can win a major championship in any number of ways,” Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee said. “He can win it as a chess master. He can win it as Houdini.”
And like Tom Watson at Turnberry seven years ago and Bernhard Langer at Augusta in April, it’ll be impossible not to savor the notion that one of the game’s greats can get it done again on the highest possible level. Even though the man himself isn't acting as if it’s a surprise, per DiMeglio.
“I don't see why there's any reason why I can't continue,” Mickelson said.
“Not just this week, but for years.”
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