From his magical final round at Muirfield to his dazzling cart path shot at Doral, take a look back at Phil Mickelson’s top moments from 2013.
With the tournament pretty much in his grasp, Phil Mickelson didn’t have to birdie the last hole at Muirfield to win his first claret jug. But, c’mon, this is Phil the Thrill we’re talking about. Mickelson stuffed a 6-iron and calmly rolled in the birdie putt to cap off what he later called, “One of the best rounds I’ve ever played.”
There are times when you have to step up and hit a crucial shot to win a major championship, and for Mickelson at the Open at Muirfield, his time came at the par-5 17th. As soon as Mickelson struck his second shot he knew it was good, yelling, “C’mon, baby!” as his ball took a few hops on the ground and rolled on to the green. He two-putted for birdie to essentially clinch his first Open title.
It’s not often a player uses a word like “crushing” when describing a 60. But it was understandable after Mickelson’s birdie putt for 59 lipped out in the first round at the Phoenix Open. “I couldn’t envision which side of the hole it could possibly miss on, and it ended up somehow just dying off at the end,” Mickelson said.
With six runner-up finishes, Mickelson’s white whale continues to be the U.S. Open, but it looked like his fortunes would change at Merion. Starting the final round with a one-shot lead, Mickelson struggled early but three bogeys in the last six holes ended his chances for his first U.S. Open title.
Mickelson made two double bogeys on the front nine during the final round of the U.S. Open, and he was struggling to stay in the tournament. But then on No. 10, Mickelson hit a wedge from 75 yards that landed short of the hole and gently rolled in for eagle. The amazing shot got Mickelson back in contention, but three late bogeys meant he walked away from the U.S. Open with more heartbreak.
He only needed two putts from 20 feet to win the Scottish Open in regulation, but Mickelson three-putted to drop into a playoff with Branden Grace. But in the playoff, Mickelson didn’t let another opportunity slip away. On the par-5 18th, he hit a low pitch shot that stopped past the hole and spun back for a tap-in birdie and his first Scottish Open title.
Mickelson teased the gear heads by promising a “special club” for the Masters, and when he stepped onto the grounds at Augusta, Mickelson unveiled his latest creation – a 3-wood, driver combo dubbed a “Phrankenwood.” It didn’t help him win a fourth green jacket, but Mickelson finished third in total driving at Augusta.
No one likes to pay taxes, but when a multi-millionaire like Mickelson complained about new tax laws hitting his piggy bank pretty hard, he didn’t receive much sympathy. Mickelson soon apologized, saying in a statement, “Finances and taxes are a personal matter and I should not have made my opinions on them public.”
One of the most exciting shots in golf is the recovery shot, and Mickelson proved that once again during his singles match against Angel Cabrera at the Presidents Cup. Needing to hit a big cut around a tree at the par-4 14th, Mickelson’s second shot clipped a branch, but it somehow had enough momentum to skip across the pond and land short of the green.
“It’s really not a hard shot if you have that much green to work with.” So said Phil Mickelson after he hit a 50-yard wedge shot off a cart path to about 10 feet for an up-and-down birdie at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. After his round, Mickelson gave a lesson for the fans at home on how to play the shot. Hey, that’s why he has his own short-game instruction DVD.
