PLAYER PROFILE · LIV GOLF
Phil Mickelson is one of the most gifted and most watchable golfers who has ever lived – a six-time major champion, a left-handed magician of the short game, and, at fifty, the oldest major winner in history. Few players have inspired such devotion, or such debate.
| Full name | Philip Alfred Mickelson |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 June 1970, San Diego, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Turned pro | 1992 |
| Primary tour | LIV Golf |
| Height | 6′ 3″ (1.91 m) |
| Major championships | 6 (three Masters, two PGA, one Open) |
| PGA Tour wins | 45 |
| Hall of Fame | Inducted 2012 |
| Equipment | Callaway |
Early Life & Amateur Career
Mickelson was born in San Diego and learned the game by mirroring his right-handed father’s swing – which is why a naturally right-handed man became the most famous left-hander in golf. His amateur record was among the finest ever assembled: he won the U.S. Amateur in 1990 and, extraordinarily, a PGA Tour event as an amateur in 1991, before turning professional in 1992. The talent was never in doubt; what followed was a career of dazzling highs and, for a long time, a nagging question about whether he could win the biggest titles.
The Majors, and the Long Wait
For years Mickelson was the best player never to have won a major – a run of near-misses and self-inflicted disappointments that ended, at last, at the 2004 Masters, when he holed a birdie putt on the seventy-second hole and leapt, famously and not very high, into the air. The floodgates opened: a second green jacket in 2006, the 2005 PGA Championship, a third Masters in 2010. In 2013 he added the Open Championship at Muirfield with a final-round 66 that he has called the best round of his life. Only the U.S. Open, at which he has finished second a record six times, has escaped him – the one gap in an otherwise complete résumé.
The Oldest Champion
And then, when his competitive career seemed to be winding down, came the most improbable triumph of all. At the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course, Mickelson – a month shy of fifty-one – held off a chasing pack of players half his age to become, by some distance, the oldest major champion in the history of the game. The scenes as he walked up the eighteenth, engulfed by a crowd that spilled onto the fairway, were among the most joyous the sport has produced. It was a coda few athletes are granted.
LIV Golf & Controversy
Mickelson’s later career has been as contentious as his golf was beautiful. In 2022 he became the highest-profile name to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League, and his comments around the move – and around the tour’s backers – drew heavy criticism and a period of self-imposed absence from the game. He has remained one of the sport’s most divisive figures, admired for his genius and his generosity with fans, questioned for his judgement off the course. That tension – the showman and the gambler, the magician and the provocateur – has always been part of the Mickelson story.
Playing Style
Mickelson is, by common consent, one of the greatest short-game players the sport has ever seen – a virtuoso of the flop shot, the delicate lob and the impossible up-and-down, whose imagination around the greens redefined what was thought possible. Aggressive to a fault, he attacked pins and courses that prudence said to leave alone, and it made him box-office for three decades: the man the galleries followed, thumbs aloft, whatever the leaderboard said. The occasional disaster was simply the price of a style that never, ever played safe.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many majors has Phil Mickelson won?
Phil Mickelson has won six major championships – three Masters (2004, 2006 and 2010), two PGA Championships (2005 and 2021) and the 2013 Open Championship. The U.S. Open is the one major to elude him, at which he has finished runner-up a record six times.
How old was Phil Mickelson when he won the 2021 PGA Championship?
Mickelson was 50 years old when he won the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, making him the oldest major champion in golf history at 50 years, 11 months and 7 days.
Why is Phil Mickelson called ‘Lefty’?
Mickelson plays golf left-handed and is universally known as “Lefty,” even though he is naturally right-handed – he learned by mirroring his father’s right-handed swing as a child. He was born on 16 June 1970 in San Diego, California, and turned professional in 1992.
Which tour does Phil Mickelson play on now?
Mickelson joined the LIV Golf League in 2022 and has played on that circuit since. He remains eligible for the major championships as a past champion.
How many PGA Tour titles has Phil Mickelson won?
Mickelson won 45 PGA Tour titles over his career, one of the highest totals in history, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.