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 Thirty-seven PGA Tour victories. Three major championships. More than $55 million in career earnings. Not bad, but the best could be yet to come for Phil Mickelson. It’s hard to say the San Diego native is riding a wave of momentum coming into 2010, but he was dominant at the end of 2009 with victories at the Tour Championship and the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in China. “I’m starting to play the best golf of my career,” Mickelson said after the latter victory. “Going into 2010, not only am I excited about it, but I have very high expectations.” Mickelson’s strong showing in 2009 was even more remarkable considering the hardship he endured. Both his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, were diagnosed with breast cancer, and he curtailed his golf schedule to be by their sides. With both women reportedly on the road to recovery, Mickelson, who will begin 2010 at familiar Southland haunts Torrey Pines and Riviera, could be poised for one of the best seasons of his 19-year career. Here are five reasons why: EXPERIENCE Mickelson will turn 40 on June 16, the day before the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He was 22 when he turned pro in 1992, and only 11 golfers have won more PGA Tour events. It’s hard to imagine Lefty as one of the sport’s elder statesmen, as he’s remained one of the game’s freshest and most marketable faces since he won the Northern Telecom Open as a 20-year-old amateur in 1991. Regardless, success in golf doesn’t stop when a player journeys over the hill. Vijay Singh has won a record 22 times since turning 40 in early 2003, and 11 of Kenny Perry’s 14 career victories came after his 40th birthday in 2000. Mickelson has won at least two PGA Tour events each year since 2004, so there’s no reason to think that trend will stall. MAJOR VENUES No golfer in his 40s has won a major championship in the past decade, but Mickelson could buck that trend because of this year’s venues. After playing at Augusta National in April, where he’s won twice, Mickelson will head to Pebble Beach, where he’s a three-time winner, for the U.S. Open and then to the British Open at St. Andrews, where he tied for 11th in 2000. The major schedule concludes with the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, where Mickelson tied for sixth in 2004. DAVE STOCKTON “My short game is better than it’s ever been,” Mickelson said after the HSBC Champions, a claim that can be attributed to the work he’s put in with two-time PGA Championship winner Dave Stockton. A San Bernardino native and Redlands resident, Stockton has helped Mickelson rediscover the form that made him such a strong putter earlier in his career. Lefty has returned to the familiar forward-press move with his hands at the beginning of his stroke, and a wider stance has brought more stability and consistency regardless of the length of putt. Stockton has conveyed some of his ground-oriented chipping and pitching precepts to Mickelson, but don’t count on Lefty to completely abandon his high-and-soft approach shots around the greens. Mickelson is one of the best players in the world when his short game is clicking, and as long as he has Stockton in his corner, expect that aspect of his game to remain at a high level. THE WOODS DILEMMA Golf fans have been trained to expect determination, calculation and consistency on and off the golf course from Tiger Woods. But with the Cypress native’s decision to take an indefinite leave to sort out his family life, it’s tough to figure out what to expect from the world’s No. 1 golfer in 2010. The longer Woods’ status remains in doubt, the more opportunity Mickelson will have to rise to the occasion at events where Woods thrives, including the Century Club of San Diego Invitational and the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. NEW HEIGHTS It’s interesting to toy with the idea of how many more major championships Mickelson could have won if Woods wasn’t on the golfing landscape. Mickelson’s three major titles are the same as Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, but while the careers of those two appear to be stalled, Mickelson is still near the top of his game. Even if Mickelson doesn’t win any more majors, he’ll be regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. But the passion to reach the echelon where greats such as Nick Faldo, Lee Trevino and even Byron Nelson reside has to be something that keeps Lefty motivated. ALSO SEE: 2010 West Coast Swing Preview — The Show Must Go On Bob Hope Classic Preview San Diego Open Preview Northern Trust Open Preview |
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