‘Phil the Thrill’ a man in the mould of Arnold Palmer
t didn’t take long to get an understanding as to how Augusta National was going to play yesterday. Although the weather forecast had called cool and windy conditions for later in the day, you could see that the world’s best golfers were palpably relieved to be starting at the scheduled time and on a soft course. Although longer, soft courses almost always promote greater aggression.
Around Augusta, that is especially true as the players no longer have to unduly worry about the bounce or the roll-out of the ball. Power becomes a greater factor but so too does the ability to control the trajectory and spin of the ball.
Phil Mickelson, you feel, relished the opportunity presented to him with yesterday’s early start. Always a contender at Augusta, the three-time champion gave a good indication of his mood earlier in the week when calling out some of his fellow professionals and rules officials on the PGA Tour for being “too lax”, (a la Lexi Thompson), when marking their golf balls on greens.
As an experienced player, he could have ignored that hot topic but the fact that he was willing to engage again demonstrated his “inner” confidence - so we shouldn’t have been too surprised to see him co-leading the Masters at -3 after four holes before falling back later in his round.
Mickelson is a “take it or leave it” type of character. Some people like him and others would prefer not to let their thoughts fully known, but I like him for a number of reasons.
He is a man of his convictions and he is not afraid to publicly speak his mind or to challenge authorities about matters that he feels need to be addressed.
Take Tom Watson’s US captaincy at the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles in 2014. He openly disagreed with the way Tom led that team but rather than waiting to go home to vent his frustrations in the “off” season, he addressed them publicly at the Ryder Cup and by doing so, he fundamentally changed (for the better, I would argue) the composition of future US teams.
The second reason I like Mickelson is because he is an entertainer, much in the style of Arnold Palmer.
He sees the big picture at a time when others like our own Rory McIlroy admit to having no interest in helping to “grow the game” worldwide.
He understands that he is making a fortune from the game because of the exploits of others who went before him and sponsors like Callaway, whose business is dependent on the rude health of a competitive professional tour.
Mickelson plays in a manner that suggests that he is always prepared to give his all, even when it is a hopeless cause — as it was against Henrik Stenson during last year’s final round of the Open Championship.
Much like Severiano Ballesteros and Arnold Palmer before him, he is a fan favourite, not because he is the best player in the field but because he sees fans as being an integral part of his journey. He signs autographs not because he has to but because he wants to.
For a man in his mid-forties, “Phil the Thrill” now knows that the curtain is rapidly coming down on his best competitive days.
It will be a tough ask for him but if he can just hang around within striking distance come the final day on Sunday then I certainly wouldn’t bet against his silky skills prevailing once more.
With his legacy as one of the game’s greatest ever players already secured, Mickelson would probably see another “Green Jacket” as being more of a fitting tribute to Arnold Palmer’s career than anything else.
His, would probably be the most popular victory this week.
