
Phil Mickelson is one the modern era’s top golfers. Mickelson won 45 PGA Tour events and six majors in a 30+ year career. The American golfer has secured major wins in three of the four tournaments, only lacking a win at the US Open which would have secured the coveted golf Grand Slam. The US Open has been a painfully elusive championship for Mickelson having finished second on six different occasions.
The Arizona State alumnus turned professional in 1992. However, Mickelson had already won his first PGA Tour event when he got his tour card. The golfer won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open as an amateur. It was two years after winning his first tournament that Mickelson secured his second PGA event win. In February 1993, he won the Buick Invitational and it set him on a winning path.
Mickelson’s first major victory took more than eight years to secure after winning his first PGA event as a professional. He won the PGA Tour Championship in 2000 by two strokes over Tiger Woods. Making the victory even more special was the fact that Woods was at the top of his game at the time.
Mickelson won his first Masters in 2004. The golfer’s win at Augusta sparked a three-year period in which he won a major each season. Between 2004 and 2006, Mickelson won a major event each year. He followed that winning streak up by winning The Players Championship and Deutsche Bank Championship in 2007.
In the years that followed, Mickelson remained consistent as a player and he won the Open Championship in 2013 at Muirfield. Many believed that Mickelson had left his tournament winning days behind him but in 2021 he stunned the golfing world by winning the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. At the age of 50 years and 11 months old, he became the oldest ever Major winner.
Mickelson’s success on the golf course puts him second on golf’s all-time top earners list behind only Tiger Woods. He has earned almost $1 billion during his career on and off the course and regularly makes top 10 lists of the world’s highest paid athletes. In 2022 Mickelson left the PGA Tour to sign for the newly created LIV Golf Tour.
Phil Mickelson’s Major Wins
Years | Masters | US PGA | U.S. Open | Open |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
2005 | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ |
2006 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
2010 | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
2013 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✅ |
2021 | ✕ | ✅ | ✕ | ✕ |
Masters Wins: 3
It is often the way that Major winning golfers get their first win on the board courtesy of the Masters Tournament. That is what happened to Phil Mickelson, whose debut at Augusta National in 1991 saw him finish tied for 46th as the Low Amateur. He didn’t play the following year but improved on his first performance in 1993 when he ended up tied-34th. Another absence in 1994 was followed up with four top ten finishes in six years before he finished third three years running. That was the build-up to his first win, which was followed by his second two years later and his third in 2010. After that he struggled, but finished tied-second in 2023.
2004 – Els Edged Out After Final Round Battle
A field of 93 golfers headed to Augusta National in 2004, hoping to get the chance to slip on the green jacket. Having finished third three times in succession, Phil Mickelson was one of the more fancied players to do so. As four-time Masters champion Arnold Palmer was making his final appearance in the competition, Mickelson was shooting an opening round of 72 and 69 on day to to put himself tied-fourth heading into the weekend. Another 69 moved him to first place, level with Chris DiMarco, proving his consistency by scoring 69 again on the final day in one of the most exciting back nines in the history of the Masters to win it by one shot.
2006 – Seven Under Seals Second Green Jacket
Two years later and Mickelson was back, having finished tenth the year before. Having already won the PGA Championship, this was the American’s second consecutive Major in the year that Nick Faldo played in the Tournament for the last time. Mickelson opened his account with a two under par 70, then followed that up with par on day two. Thunderstorms meant that the third round was played over the Saturday and the Sunday, with Mickelson shooting another two under par to take the lead. He shot a 69 on the Sunday to secure his second green jacket with a -7 score of 281 for the weekend, two shots clear of Tim Clark in second place.
2010 – Three Stroke Victory After Westwood Falters
Having finished tied-fifth in 2008 and fifth in his own right in 2009, Mickelson will have been feeling reasonably confident heading into the Masters in 2010. His confidence was not misplaced, shooting a five under par 67 on the opening day to sit one off the lead and level with four other players. That Tom Watson was one of those players and Fred Couples was the leader suggests it was a week for the old guns. Mickelson was two off the lead after shooting 71 on the second day, then just one behind Lee Westwood heading into the final day thanks to a 67. Another 67 saw him pick up his third and final green jacket.
PGA Championship Wins: 2
There is an extent to which Phil Mickelson’s relationship with the PGA Championship was soured towards the latter part of his career, largely because of his 2022 decision to turn his back on his 30-year PGA membership in favour of joining the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. It is a shame that things went that way, given the fact that he started his PGA Championship playing time like a man possessed, coming tied-sixth and then third in his first two outings in the competition. In fact, he only missed one cut in 24 times of asking between his debut and 2016, showing that it was a tournament that he enjoyed playing when he could.
2005 – Single Shot Success at Baltusrol
Having come second in 2001 and tied-sixth the year before, Mickelson entered the PGA Championship in 2005 with a determination to get another Major win under his belt. The fact that this victory was sandwiched between two Masters wins shows that he was a man in form at the time. Played on Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course in New Jersey, Mickelson was tied for the lead after a -3 first round of 67. He took the lead in his own right after scoring a 65 on the second day, then was tied with Davis Love III owing to a third-day 72. A flop out of the rough on the 18th to within two feet gave him a birdie and a one-shot win for his first PGA Championship title.
2021 – Led from Round 2 to Become Oldest Major Winner
You can never rule out anyone in golf, which is fact that Phil Mickelson proved when he won the PGA Championship in 2021 at the age of 50 years and 11 months, making him the oldest player to win a Major in the history of the sport. Played on Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course, Mickelson opened with a 70 and was then tied for first after shooting a 69 on day two. Another 70 on the third day allowed him to pull clear of Louis Oosthuizen, who dropped down to third, and one shot clear of Brooks Koepka. A final round 73 compared to Koepka’s 74, on a day when the lead kept changing, allowed him to make history.
US Open Wins: None
One could argue that Phil Mickelson has had no enemy in golf quite like the US Open. If you set a record in the competition in your home country that is open to all players, you want it to be one that people will talk about positively. For Mickelson, though, the record is that he has finished second in it more than any other golfer. His first second-place finish came in 1999, then he did so again three years later. Having won the Masters, he thought 2004 would be his year but no, he came second. He ended up tied second in 2006, having also won the Masters, then tied-second again in 2009. His final close-but-no-cigar moment came in 2013. Frustrating would be the only word.
Open Championship Wins: 1
Mickelson’s relationship with the Open Championship is not entirely dissimilar to his one with the US Open, with the obvious exception being that he at least won it once. When he played in it for the first time in 1991 he ended up tied-73rd, then missed the cut the next time he entered. After a few generally disappointing attempts he finished third in 2004, then promptly finished tied-60th the year after. He must have been getting déjà vu when he ended up tied-second in 2011, then he missed the cut the following year. His win came in 2013, but he managed to fit in another second-place finish three years after that, just for old time’s sake.
2013 – Final Round 66 Secures Claret Jug
It was Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland that was the venue for Mickelson’s solitary Open Championship win, defeating a field of 155 other players to lift the Claret Jug. An opening round of 69 put him two under par, but three shots of Zach Johnson in the lead. He wasn’t even in the top ten at the end of day two, having shot 74, then day three brought him a par round to mean that he was five off the lead as the final round got underway. The 54-hole leader, Lee Westwood, all but fell apart, finishing at +1 for the week, but Mickelson held it together to shoot a final round of 66, meaning he had 281 for the week and was the only golfer to end up under par.