Despite outside concerns, Phil still the one to watch
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
Phil Mickelson has endured a season like no other -- learning in May his wife, Amy, and later his mom, Mary, had both been diagnosed with breast cancer.
That's why he hasn't played the last six weeks, missing last month's British Open to snap his consecutive majors streak at 61. Mickelson ends his break this week at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, which will get him ready for next week's PGA Championship at Hazeltine and the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
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This is certainly no ceremonial return. Mickelson is not coming back simply to feel the warm embrace of his large fan base, or to hang out with the guys, or to experiment with some new flop shot. Mickelson is not that kind of golfer (well, except perhaps for the flop shot). He's not content with just showing up. Once he hits that first tee shot Thursday at Firestone, the juices will start to flow.
But besides getting back into competitive mode, what can we expect from Mickelson? More of the usual: Some very good and some OK golf.
It has been an up-and-down year for him on the leaderboard. Mickelson has played in 12 TOUR events, with six going extremely well (two victories and four other top-10 finishes) and six not so superbly (two missed cuts and four other finishes at 40th place or worse).
Mickelson almost pulled off the story of the year (before Tom Watson almost did the same at the British Open) when he moved into a share of the lead late in the final round of the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. The New York fans were literally trying to will Mickelson to victory on that emotional day that soon turned sour when he three-putted the 15th hole and settled for a record fifth runner-up showing in our national championship.
That performance at the U.S. Open proved Mickelson still has enough control of his swing to not only salvage this season, but make it one to remember. Mickelson hit the ball at Bethpage about as well as he has at a major since, well, this year's Masters, where he finished fifth.
Had Mickelson had a good putting week at both of those majors, the discussion we'd be having now would be quite different. Lefty most likely would have five career majors now.
Not wanting to waste a great ball-striking season, instructor Butch Harmon convinced Mickelson after the U.S. Open to make a small adjustment to his putting stroke to ensure he'll be more consistent on the short ones. Mickelson has agreed, and reportedly feels great about the new stroke.
One thing is certain: It won't take much for Mickelson to turn a darn good year into a great one. Despite his limited schedule, he's fifth in the FedExCup standings, 935 points behind leader Tiger Woods.
Look for Mickelson to ease back into competition this week at an event he's yet to win in 10 career tries, but has three top-four finishes. Mickelson should contend for his second career PGA Championship next week at Hazeltine, where he was 34th in 2002.
Much depends on Mickelson's mindset. If he's thinking too much about Amy and the kids, he's not going to play well. But as Woods mentioned last week, the fact Mickelson is returning to action is a sign things are improving with Phil's wife and mom.
As badly as Mickelson wanted to win the U.S. Open to have that trophy in Amy's hospital room, you know he'd like to win the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time and position himself for a successful run into the Playoffs. Mickelson already has committed to the first Playoffs event, The Barclays.
It's entirely possible, if Mickelson wins the PGA and plays well in the Playoffs, he could challenge for his first Player of the Year honors at 39.
Imagine that.
The key is Mickelson has to have a major title to go along with his two other wins. If that were to happen, Mickelson's greatest challenge would come from Woods (four wins) rather than the three major winners this year (Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink).
At that point, the award would come down to the Playoffs. Should Tiger win for the second time, it would be hard to deny him the Player of the Year award, despite not having a major.
But should Mickelson win -- remember, he won the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2007, putting him in the top spot of the FedExCup rankings before Tiger surged to the title -- then he could make his strongest case yet.
Thus, in regard to the rest of this season, it's no longer a case of What Will Phil Do Next? It's more like, What Will Phil Do Last?
It should be, as always, very entertaining.
Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.
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