Since it’s come up, just thought I’d put this here. A fascinating retrospective, and it reinforces something I’ve believed for a long time: Mickelson is the kind of player who can crash and burn at any time. No lead is safe; no par is simple. When you think about it, it’s pretty remarkable he’s still in the top 20 (#13 as of last week). You see someone as meltdown-prone as him and you expect him to be selling shoes within three years.
Does anyone know why there’s no MDF (made cut didn’t finish) at this year’s PGA Championship? 86 players made the cut, and there have been concerns about having enough time to wrap it up today.
I think that is a bit unfair to him-in a lot of those majors he just got outplayed (as was the case with the British Open this year). Only a few of those 2nd’s could fairly be called “meltdowns”… It is a shame he never won the US Open tho.
Yes, Phil is ninth on the all-time PGA win list, just behind Walter Hagen. He has enough wins and majors for two Hall of Fame careers. He messed up at Winged Foot, no doubt, but it’s ridiculous to imply that he’s not a winner.
The MDF cut is in the PGATour by-laws. The PGA Championship is run by the PGA of America.
Despite short term inconsistencies, Phil Mickelson has been remarkably consistent over the long term. This year, he will make his 11th straight Ryder Cup team, on merit, without need of a Captains Pick. Every Ryder Cup since 1995, and most ever by any American. His worst OWGR was 40th, just before he started his PGATour season.
He needed a Captains in last years Presidents Cup and the 1994 Presidents Cup but made every PC team in between.
And BTW, Mickelson is leading the scoring average that determines the Vardon Trophy. Better than Day, Johnson and Spieth. He has never won it before.