Mickelson's place in history

[JaNelson38]

I think the most impressive thing, if Phil wins tomorrow, is winning a major at age 46.

 

For all of the talk about the "youth movement" in the PGA Tour, I think the coolest thing about this major is that you have 3 guys at/over the age of 40 in the top 6 (Mickelson, Stenson, Stricker).

[Medic]

Mickelson is top 10 all time and goat lefty. He has won over 40 times on the pga tour with 5 majors. Guys like Els, Norman, Irwin have less than half that many as a comparison of how good that is. And Phil has won them in what are considered the deepest fields there has been. If he wins tomorrow the argument for Phil should be top 5, top 10 is already done and dusted. And if you go even further, he is probably top 2 benind Hogan for best ever past 35.

 

I think a really worthwhile question is how many more opportunities might Phil have?

 

I would love to see him win the Player's. (Often considered the 5th major) But more than this I would really love to see him win a US Open as this would really round off his career.

 

Phil won the Players in 2007. The US Open is the lone gap in his resume.

 

Like Playa, I'd say a win tomorrow puts in him the top five discussion. I'm pretty sure he's spent more time in the top ten than anyone else in the history of the OWGR. His first win was quarter century ago. That is impressive, Kareem/Jagr/Rice-level longevity.

 

My mistake and thanks. Forgot about that one and didn't look it up before posting.

 

I think another question that could be posed in order to answer the OP's initial one:

How long will Phil be the subject of conversation once his career is over?

 

Think about that one. There is a very small number of players who left such a great impression and mark on the game that their impression lives on well past their careers. And only a few who are held in such high regard that they are the foundation of comparisons. "Sure, Tiger was amazing but Jack..." sort of comparisons.

 

Cannot help but wonder if Phil (or any other current player for that matter) is up to that standard of being memorable.

[Hawkeye77]

Mickelson is top 10 all time and goat lefty. He has won over 40 times on the pga tour with 5 majors. Guys like Els, Norman, Irwin have less than half that many as a comparison of how good that is. And Phil has won them in what are considered the deepest fields there has been. If he wins tomorrow the argument for Phil should be top 5, top 10 is already done and dusted. And if you go even further, he is probably top 2 benind Hogan for best ever past 35.

 

I think a really worthwhile question is how many more opportunities might Phil have?

 

I would love to see him win the Player's. (Often considered the 5th major) But more than this I would really love to see him win a US Open as this would really round off his career.

 

Phil won the Players in 2007. The US Open is the lone gap in his resume.

 

Like Playa, I'd say a win tomorrow puts in him the top five discussion. I'm pretty sure he's spent more time in the top ten than anyone else in the history of the OWGR. His first win was quarter century ago. That is impressive, Kareem/Jagr/Rice-level longevity.

 

He's just not even close to top 5 discussion even if he wins tomorrow. People pretty dismissive of Player, no career grand slam for Phil and Watson outside looking in at top 5 and Phil isn't close to surpassing him at all.

 

One more major equals great accomplishment, obviously enhances his stature, but let's not get carried away.

[playa]

Mickelson is top 10 all time and goat lefty. He has won over 40 times on the pga tour with 5 majors. Guys like Els, Norman, Irwin have less than half that many as a comparison of how good that is. And Phil has won them in what are considered the deepest fields there has been. If he wins tomorrow the argument for Phil should be top 5, top 10 is already done and dusted. And if you go even further, he is probably top 2 benind Hogan for best ever past 35.

 

I think a really worthwhile question is how many more opportunities might Phil have?

 

I would love to see him win the Player's. (Often considered the 5th major) But more than this I would really love to see him win a US Open as this would really round off his career.

 

Phil won the Players in 2007. The US Open is the lone gap in his resume.

 

Like Playa, I'd say a win tomorrow puts in him the top five discussion. I'm pretty sure he's spent more time in the top ten than anyone else in the history of the OWGR. His first win was quarter century ago. That is impressive, Kareem/Jagr/Rice-level longevity.

 

He's just not even close to top 5 discussion even if he wins tomorrow. People pretty dismissive of Player, no career grand slam for Phil and Watson outside looking in at top 5 and Phil isn't close to surpassing him at all.

 

One more major equals great accomplishment, obviously enhances his stature, but let's not get carried away.

Is that you Gary?

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Not sure if Phil counts as left-handed if I'm right in thinking he is really right-handed (and if so, wasn't Hogsn the opposite?).

[Medic]

Aside from the potential of winning tomorrow he would have really made a mark if that putt for a 62 on Thursday had fallen for him.

[playa]

For the record, as this has become a top 5 debate, my top 5 are Tiger/Jack/Hogan equal first, Watson then Trevino, with Seve only missing out cause of his lack of longevity. In my honest opinion Phil is very close to Watson and Trevino, and would definitely be in the argument if he could win an Open at 46.

[mrmacwvu1]

wow no love for snead or nelson

 

nelson retired before hogan became hogan

 

but beat him twice in majors

 

palmer won 20 more tournaments then watson

 

and trevino is not top ten alltime let alone top 5

[McCann1]

Trying to rate the best 5 players in the entire history of golf is just doing a disservice to all of the greats over the years

 

Also Medic, I believe it is FIGJAM. I'm pretty sure it's easy to figure out what the F stands for

[tigers9iron]

a few breaks here and there and Phil was easily a 10+ major guy, the same could be said for tiger being a 20 major guy nonetheless all things considered Phil is one of the all time greats in golf regardless of what happens tomorrow.

[Medic]

Trying to rate the best 5 players in the entire history of golf is just doing a disservice to all of the greats over the years

 

Probably more appropriate to just name the greatest of the game without ranking them or giving a finite number.

 

Any such list should probably include Babe and Annika in my humble also.

 

Sort of like asking someone who their favorite player is. Ask 10 people and you'll get at least 5 different passionate answers. Such questions, in my humble, cannot simply be founded on winning records but also what they did for the game - and how they went about doing it.

[mrmacwvu1]

There is a good book called who's better who's best that I picked up on ebay for a few bucks

 

it is a little dated but it rates the 50 greatest golfers

 

for younger people it is a good history lesson

[deadsolid...shank]

a few breaks here and there and Phil was easily a 10+ major guy, the same could be said for tiger being a 20 major guy nonetheless all things considered Phil is one of the all time greats in golf regardless of what happens tomorrow.

 

I'm curious what bad breaks have kept Tiger from six additional majors?

[playa]

wow no love for snead or nelson

 

nelson retired before hogan became hogan

 

but beat him twice in majors

 

palmer won 20 more tournaments then watson

 

and trevino is not top ten alltime let alone top 5

Forgot Snead, he would be definitely number 3. Nelson and Arnie top 10 but not 5 imo. Trevino is up there cause he took it up to Jack like no other golfer ever did.

[Hawkeye77]

Mickelson is top 10 all time and goat lefty. He has won over 40 times on the pga tour with 5 majors. Guys like Els, Norman, Irwin have less than half that many as a comparison of how good that is. And Phil has won them in what are considered the deepest fields there has been. If he wins tomorrow the argument for Phil should be top 5, top 10 is already done and dusted. And if you go even further, he is probably top 2 benind Hogan for best ever past 35.

 

I think a really worthwhile question is how many more opportunities might Phil have?

 

I would love to see him win the Player's. (Often considered the 5th major) But more than this I would really love to see him win a US Open as this would really round off his career.

 

Phil won the Players in 2007. The US Open is the lone gap in his resume.

 

Like Playa, I'd say a win tomorrow puts in him the top five discussion. I'm pretty sure he's spent more time in the top ten than anyone else in the history of the OWGR. His first win was quarter century ago. That is impressive, Kareem/Jagr/Rice-level longevity.

 

He's just not even close to top 5 discussion even if he wins tomorrow. People pretty dismissive of Player, no career grand slam for Phil and Watson outside looking in at top 5 and Phil isn't close to surpassing him at all.

 

One more major equals great accomplishment, obviously enhances his stature, but let's not get carried away.

Is that you Gary?

 

You are fat and need to get fit, it's embarrassing how your children don't eat right or exercise and all my playoff losses were really victories, those were ties for the championship, and yeesss I love Tiger but skipping the Olympics just because of a bad back and no ranking is pitiful.

 

 

[mrmacwvu1]

actually watson beat Jack with more frequency than did trevino even in the majors

 

trevino was never a factor in the masters which was Jacks house

 

hell he was so bad there he would skip the tournament

 

plus watson won more majors and more tournament than trevino

 

hell starting in 77 he won as many tournaments in 6 years as trevino won in his career

 

watson won 29 while jack only won 10 during that time period

 

no other player won more than 8

[deadsolid...shank]

For the record, as this has become a top 5 debate, my top 5 are Tiger/Jack/Hogan equal first, Watson then Trevino, with Seve only missing out cause of his lack of longevity. In my honest opinion Phil is very close to Watson and Trevino, and would definitely be in the argument if he could win an Open at 46.

 

Have any of Phil's major wins come with Tiger actually in contention? Trevino and Watson both went head to head with Jack (the dominant player of the era)'and came out ahead.

[Hawkeye77]

actually watson beat Jack with more frequency than did trevino even in the majors

 

trevino was never a factor in the masters which was Jacks house

 

hell he was so bad there he would skip the tournament

 

plus watson won more majors and more tournament than trevino

 

hell starting in 77 he won as many tournaments in 6 years as trevino won in his career

 

watson won 29 while jack only won 10 during that time period

 

no other player won more than 8

 

hell

[mrmacwvu1]

04 PGA

 

06 and 10 masters

[JustTheTips]

wow no love for snead or nelson

 

nelson retired before hogan became hogan

 

but beat him twice in majors

 

palmer won 20 more tournaments then watson

 

and trevino is not top ten alltime let alone top 5

 

And player has the slam, Snead has ~82 wins (they keep changing it:)) and 7 majors, and of course you need to figure out where the old timers like Jones, Hagen, Sarazen, and Vardon fit in. Once you get past the first 3 or so golfer (tiger, hogan and Jack) it gets hard to rank them. Figuring out the old guys (Where are you putting Jones, Hagen, and sarazen. ) is pretty much impossible and even the ones right after (Hogan, Snead, Nelson) played in a different world where skipping majors was common and retiring to be a rancher was a sane career choice.

 

Personally I would struggle to put Phil in the top 5 but I would also struggle not to find a spot for him in the top 15. I don't see a major changing this. Maybe completing the slam or racking up another 5+ PGA wins but that top 5 is pretty brutal to break into.

 

The interesting part is that Phil during his run was just about never the best golfer in the world. You had Duval, Tiger, Vijay having turns being the top guy with monster years. Part is bad timing (Phil had a couple of years where he won 4 times but tiger won like 6 or 9) and part is just consistancy of winning 1-2 events for 25 years.

[cdnglf]

Phil won the Players in 2007. The US Open is the lone gap in his resume.

 

Like Playa, I'd say a win tomorrow puts in him the top five discussion. I'm pretty sure he's spent more time in the top ten than anyone else in the history of the OWGR. His first win was quarter century ago. That is impressive, Kareem/Jagr/Rice-level longevity.

 

He's just not even close to top 5 discussion even if he wins tomorrow. People pretty dismissive of Player, no career grand slam for Phil and Watson outside looking in at top 5 and Phil isn't close to surpassing him at all.

 

One more major equals great accomplishment, obviously enhances his stature, but let's not get carried away.

Is that you Gary?

 

You are fat and need to get fit, it's embarrassing how your children don't eat right or exercise and all my playoff losses were really victories, those were ties for the championship, and yeesss I love Tiger but skipping the Olympics just because of a bad back and no ranking is pitiful.

 

Typed with your left hand while doing one-armed pushups.

[mackepa]

I don't think the 5 vs 6 wins argument really changes his place in history but winning a major at 46 years old sure would.

 

Phil has always had this ability to turn his game on like its a light switch. He's never really gone through a slump per say. The last two years haven't been great with no wins but he still hits the ball incredibly well and contends on tour. A major win at 46 tomorrow could be huge.

[Vindog]

Not sure if Phil counts as left-handed if I'm right in thinking he is really right-handed (and if so, wasn't Hogsn the opposite?).

 

You serious Clark?

 

I think the most impressive thing, if Phil wins tomorrow, is winning a major at age 46.

 

For all of the talk about the "youth movement" in the PGA Tour, I think the coolest thing about this major is that you have 3 guys at/over the age of 40 in the top 6 (Mickelson, Stenson, Stricker).

 

Short course

[McCann1]

Not sure if Phil counts as left-handed if I'm right in thinking he is really right-handed (and if so, wasn't Hogsn the opposite?).

 

You serious Clark?

 

I think the most impressive thing, if Phil wins tomorrow, is winning a major at age 46.

 

For all of the talk about the "youth movement" in the PGA Tour, I think the coolest thing about this major is that you have 3 guys at/over the age of 40 in the top 6 (Mickelson, Stenson, Stricker).

 

Short course

I agree with the short course statement but I've always wondered, shouldn't that not mean anything? I always felt like if you were a long hitter you would have an even bigger advantage on a short course. Say old guy hits driver and 8 iron on a hole well for the long hitter it may 3 wood and a wedge. Shouldn't they be better with less club??

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Not sure if Phil counts as left-handed if I'm right in thinking he is really right-handed (and if so, wasn't Hogsn the opposite?).

 

You serious Clark?

 

I think the most impressive thing, if Phil wins tomorrow, is winning a major at age 46.

 

For all of the talk about the "youth movement" in the PGA Tour, I think the coolest thing about this major is that you have 3 guys at/over the age of 40 in the top 6 (Mickelson, Stenson, Stricker).

 

Short course

 

I have always heard Phil is right-handed and that he learned his swing from mirroring his dad. (If that's true, it makes you wonder what kind of parent thinks that's a good idea. Worked, though.)

[Medic]

Phil is right handed.

[Hawkeye77]

S

Phil is right handed.

 

The Billy the Kid of golf!

[Petunia Sprinkle]

S

Phil is right handed.

 

The Billy the Kid of golf!

 

Or, Nadal.

[bscinstnct]

Phil is right handed.

 

I knew guys who threw righty and hit lefty.

 

Very rare is to throw lefty and hit rughty.

 

Drunk

 

Whats the topic again?

 

 

[AnserMePing]

Phil is right handed.

 

I knew guys who threw righty and hit lefty.

 

Very rare is to throw lefty and hit rughty.

 

Drunk

 

Whats the topic again?

 

I know a guy who hits left driver through 9, then right wedges and putter. Never seen anything like it.