Mickelson began playing golf at the age of 18 months, hitting his first golf balls. He learned the fundamentals of the game by imitating his father's swing, which led the naturally right-handed Phil to adopt the left-handed stroke that earned him the nickname "Lefty."
Mickelson’s Personal Life
On June 16, 1970, Philip Alfred Mickelson was born in San Diego, California. Mickelson's golf career began around the time he could walk. Phil and Mary, his parents, tell of a young Phil running away from home at three, telling neighbors he was going to the golf course.
Before starting school, Mickelson began golfing under the tutelage of his father. Phil Artwork.'s schedule as a commercial pilot allowed them to play together several times a week, and young Phil honed his creative short game in their San Diego backyard practice area. In 1988, Mickelson graduated from the University of San Diego High School.
He attended Arizona State University in Tempe on a golf scholarship and graduated in 1992. Mickelson rose to the top of the national amateur golf rankings at Arizona State. He won three NCAA individual championships as well as three Haskins Awards as the best collegiate golfer. He became only the second collegiate golfer to be named to the first team in all four years. Following his victory in Tucson in 1991, he attended ASU and earned his bachelor's degree. He was only the second collegiate golfer to be named first-team All-American all four years.
His Career
Mickelson was exempted from the professional golf qualification process due to his 'PGA Tour victory in 1991, which was valid for two years. In 1992, he hired Jim "Bones" Mackay as his caddy and went on to play on several PGA tours over the next few years.
Many of these events were won by him, including the 'World Series of Golf' (1996), the 'Colonial National Invitation' (2000), and the 'Greater Hartford Open' (2001). (2001 and 2002).
In 2000, he ended Tiger Woods' six-year winning streak on the PGA Tour by winning the 'Buick Invitational.' However, he had yet to win a major and was dubbed the "best player never to win a major" in golf circles.
He broke the major jinx in 2004 when he won the 68th 'Masters Tournament' at the 'Augusta National Golf Club' in Georgia at the age of 33. He became only the third left-handed golfer in history to win the Masters.
A career-low followed his 'Master' victory until he won his second major title at the 'PGA Championship' in Baltusrol in 2005. After winning the 'Masters' in 2006, his third major title, he ranked second on the 'Official World Golf Ranking list in 2007. This was his highest ranking to date.
He was on track to become the only player to win three majors in a row, joining Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan, but his performance dipped at the 'US Open' at Winged Foot in 2006, where he finished in a tie for second place, one stroke behind Geoff Ogilvy.
He won the 'Deutsche Bank Championship' in 2007, finishing two strokes ahead of Tiger Woods. He won the 'Crown Plaza Invitational' at Colonia the following year, beating out Tim Clark and Rod Pampling.
In 2009, he won his first 'World Golf Championship' by one stroke over Nick Watney at the WGC-CA Championship. He had won the 'Northern Trust Open' at Rivera earlier that year, putting him second on the 'PGA Tour' wins list with 35 wins.
Despite multiple breaks in his golfing career due to his wife's and mother's cancer treatments, he kept ranking one spot behind Tiger Woods by winning the 'Tour Championship and the 'WGC-HSBC Championship' in 2009.