Phil Mickelson means more to golf than ever.
Just when professional golf was becoming a maze of names and no-names to the casual fan, old Lefty has burst back onto the scene. Mickelson’s dramatic win at the PGA on the Ocean Course has made interest in this weekend’s US Open skyrocket.
With Tiger out for who knows how long and Phil dropping out of the top 100, golf was becoming a game of names who were once hot but have struggled in recent years, like Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. Then Phil’s dramatic return along with the lifting of COVID restrictions turned the PGA into a mad house all weekend and especially Sunday.
The biggest news since then was Jon Rahm, recently the No. 1 player in the world, having to drop out of the Memorial for COVID protocols while holding a six-stroke lead at Jack Nicklaus’ course. That’s not what we wanted to hear, and even the DeChambeau/Koepka feud is sophomoric in what is supposedly a gentleman’s game.
Mickelson has opened with 50-1 odds of winning the Open at Torrey Pines, his favorite course since his youth in San Diego but a bit harder for him since its redesign. Still, he has a familiarity with it matched only by Woods, who is still laid up with the leg injury.
More money has already been bet on Mickelson before Thursday’s opening round than anyone else in the field, and with those odds Phil could bankrupt a lot of bookies and gamers who stand to lose millions of dollars if Lefty does it again over the weekend.
Rahm is favored to win at 9-1 but Mickelson is the favorite in every other way. His retooled body, less the familiar fat, and his cool aviator sunglasses have made him appear almost like an avatar from a sci-fi movie. At 50, he brings the club back as far as ever and swings like a limber back, outdriving some guys half his age.
Think of what Mickelson contending means to golf and the TV ratings this weekend. Let’s pray he plays well enough to make the cut and stays in it until Sunday.
Millions of people, young and old, who rarely watch a golf tournament will be pulling hard for him. Mickelson has revived the old American past time of loving a long shot.
(featured image: AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
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