The Return of Sunday Mickelson

When I was 4 years old, my grandfather had his old clubs cut down to size so I could learn. I was re-fitted for new clubs whenever I grew and figured I was on the path to junior greatness. But when I turned 15, I got new clubs. Left-handed clubs. Though a lefty, I'd played righty golf for 11 years with no cause for complaint, but swinging the club left-handed always felt so much more natural for me. The transition was a smooth one. So as you can probably figure, I remember when Phil Mickelson first came on the scene. Like any person under 25, I was/am a diehard Tiger fan, but as a lefty, I was eager to support anyone standing on the "wrong side of the ball." This guy was young, left-handed, and the most obvious foe to Tiger's greatness. I awaited with great anticipation the back-9 battles soon to come; head to head duels between once and future champions that would define an era. Woods-Mickelson would become synonymous with Borg-McEnroe, Palmer-Nicklaus, Chamberlain-Russell, Ali-Frazier, hell, even Fischer-Spassky.

But alas. Choke after choke after choke. Mickelson exposed himself to be the master schmuck of the PGA Tour, one of the greatest chumps of all sports, and the only athlete out there that could get a sponsorship sporting Frank Costanza's mansierre. And though Lefty eventually won a major, I maintain that he only found his game after Tiger lost his. How can you respect that? Further, how can he truly think he has emerged as one of golf's greats if he can only do so amongst lesser competition? As such, I've waited patiently for Tiger to return to form. I had full faith that if forced to match Tiger stroke for stroke, Mickelson would wilt like a morning glory at noon. And on Sunday at Doral, I got my wish. While all the articles spout off about this great titanic battle on the Blue Monster, I saw two things: the return of Sunday Tiger and the return of Sunday Mickelson. Mickelson entered the final round with a 2 stroke lead and managed to lose by one. He simply couldn't hang. Sure, he didn't collapse like Greg Norman or Nick Foldo, but when it mattered, he tightened up like a sorority girl in a bucket of ice water and got the wood put to him.



Welcome back to reality, Phil.


[Picture provided by Matt Geiger]