Outsports » Phil Mickelson

Is Tiger Woods’ dominance over?

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:10:17 +0000

Louis Oosthuizen. Graeme McDowell. Lucas Glover. What do these men all have in common? They’ve won a Major Championship more recently than Tiger Woods. They’re also all 30 or younger. As Tiger’s putter is failing him, his drives are often finding the trees, and his mind seems to be elsewhere, age is catching him. At 34 he’s now a couple years past the average age of Majors winners. Sure, Phil Mickelson seems to have found his prime with age, winning all four of his Majors at 34 or older. But with so many young golfers coming up the ranks, I wonder if Tiger’s roar is quieting for good.

On the flip side, all of these first-time winners represents the fact that there are no other great golfers out there. In the last 12 years, only two men other than Woods have been able to win more than two majors: Mickelson (4) and Padraig Harrington (3). Still, Woods has won only two of the last 15.

Too early to stick a fork in him? Maybe. But the fact of the matter is, he’s not swinging the club well. He’s not putting well. He may win the PGA Championship, still may break Jack Nicklaus’ Majors record (18). But the idea that he is this unstoppable force has at least been put on hold for a couple years. Whether it’s been put to bed remains to be seen.

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PGA gets season-end photo op

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:29:20 +0000

The PGA has to be loving the photo op the Tour Championship bore: Phil MIckelson and Tiger Woods both holding trophies for the same event. Mickelson came from behind to win the Tour Championship, while Woods’ second-place finish earned him the points to win his second FedEx Cup (he also won in 2007). Mickelson finished second in the Cup race, but behind Woods by a full 1,080 points (27%).

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Mickelson’s crazy backward shot

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:26:18 +0000

If you’re a golfer, you’ve no doubt had those occasional downhill shots on the edge of a bunker that just killed your score. Phil Mickelson has a way around it: The backward shot. You turn around with your back to the pin and aim AWAY from the hole, making it an uphill shot. And you still make the ball head toward the hole. You gotta see it to believe it.

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Lucas Glover wins rain-drenched U.S. Open

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:24:43 +0000

Congratulations to Lucas Glover, who notched his second tour victory today that happened to come at the U.S. Open on one of the toughest courses around: Bethpage Black. His 4-under final score was enough to hold off Phil Mickelson (who has now finished second in the tournament more than anyone else) and David Duval, both of whom shared the lead late in the final round, and Ricky Barnes, who faded in the final round.

But to me, this U.S. Open will long have a big question mark over it because of the rain in the first two days and how the tournament organizers handled it. Of the top five finishers, none had to golf in the rain on Thursday, and the earliest Friday first-round tee time for any of them was 10:33 a.m. In fact, the only person to not finish over par and tee off on Thursday was Tiger Woods. On the flip side, while three more players got to start on Friday instead of Thursday, 58% of the players cut after the second round had to start in the rain on Thursday. Twenty of the 26 worst scores in the first two rounds were from players who had to play the poor conditions on Thursday and early Friday. The average first-round score of those who started Thursday was a full two strokes higher than those who didn’t.

One of my friends who played golf in college said “that’s golf.” No, it doesn’t have to be. Weather doesn’t have to play such a big role and be such a big disadvantage for players who got unlucky with their tee time. Can you imagine if they told Roger Federer that he had to play in the mud while his opponent got to play on a dry surface?

Unfortunately, the golf powers-that-be feel the need to get the tournament completed by Sunday, so they force players out in terrible conditions knowing not everyone will have to go. And what happens in the end? They go to Monday anyway. Change the rules! Be smart about when you send people out. And if some players have to play in the rain before the horn blows, figure out a tee-time system that will send the rest of the players out first the next morning so they have to play in the mud of the early morning. There are creative solutions golf can implement that will make the playing field more fair. But, the sport that prides itself on tradition above all else will keep up the unfair practice.

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Quick hits: Magic, Mickelson, Stallworth

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:10:47 +0000

Categories: Golf, Law, MLB, NBA, NFL

Tags: Donte' Stallworth, LeBron James, New York Yankees, Orlando Magic, Phil Mickelson

LeBron James scores 49…and the Cavs lose to the Magic. I wouldn’t want to be in the Cleveland locker room after that game. Phil Mickelson has taken a leave from golf to be with his wife, who has been diagnose with cancer. A classy move by Mickelson, but it’s another Majors season without a popular [...]

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