Phil Mickelson – Player Bio

Phil Mickelson will be the American’s most experienced man at Medinah, playing in his ninth Ryder Cup.

After the last edition of the Ryder Cup, Mickelson started his 2011 season well at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course when he shot three rounds of 67-69-68 and was tied for the 54 hole lead with Bill Haas. 
 
He went one better at the Shell Houston Open with a 20-under-par, three-stroke win over Scott Verplank. The victory moved Mickelson to number three in the world rankings, while Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. Mickelson had not been ranked above Woods since the week prior to the 1997 Masters Tournament.
 
The 42-year-old almost broke his Open Championship duck in 2011, tieing for second with Dustin Johnson. His front nine 30 put him briefly in a tie for the lead with eventual champion Darren Clarke. However, his poor putting caused him to fade from contention during the back nine. 
 
After an indifferent start to 2012, Mickelson managed to rally in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from six back to win. It marked his 40th career victory on the PGA Tour. The following week at Riviera Country Club, Mickelson lost the Northern Trust Open in a three man playoff, having held the lead or a share of it from day one until the back nine on Sunday when Bill Haas posted the clubhouse lead at seven-under.  Mickelson holed a 27-foot birdie putt on the final regulation hole to force a playoff alongside Haas and Keegan Bradley. Haas however won the playoff with a 40 foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. 

Enjoying somewhat of a rejuvenation, Mickelson finished tied for third at the 2012 Masters Tournament. After opening the tournament with a two-over-par 74, he shot 68-66 in the next two rounds and ended up one behind the leader Peter Hanson by the Saturday night. However, an unlucky bounce off a spectator stand led to a triple-bogey on the par-3 fourth hole. This ended up being Mickelson’s only score over par in the whole round, as he finished two off the playoff.

Post-Augusta, Mickelson played the Wells Fargo Championship and finished T-26, before finishing T25 at The Players Championship. He went on to make a charge on Sunday at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but bogeyed 17 and 18, and finished T-7th.  Paired with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson at the U.S. Open Mickelson fought to make the cut, and finished T-65th.

After taking a couple of weeks off, he played the Greenbrier Classic but putting problems meant a second straight missed cut at the Greenbrier and a third missed cut at The Open Championship, shooting 11-over. Finishes of T43 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, T36 at the U.S. PGA Championship and T38 at The Barclays suggested a longer term slump; but a T4 at the Deutsche Bank Championship gives the American a glimmer of hope ahead of Medinah.

Can he pull a few wins out of the bag? We wait with bated breath…