Mickelson using game improvement irons at Masters

[acekun]

That is crazy. And pretty cool. 

[cardoustie]

I'll give Phil the benefit of the doubt.  He's only the best golfer in the world over the age of 50. 

 

He has a few wins and a handful of majors if memory serves, could beat any living pro in a short game duel from bad places

 

How many years was he ranked in the top 50 in the world ??? ... 26 !!!!!!!

[bladehunter]

6 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

I'll give Phil the benefit of the doubt.  He's only the best golfer in the world over the age of 50. 

 

He has a few wins and a handful of majors if memory serves, could beat any living pro in a short game duel from bad places

 

How many years was he ranked in the top 50 in the world ??? ... 26 !!!!!!!

Oh I agree. I’d be the biggest cheerleader if he was in top.  

[nlinneman20]

5 hours ago, chippa13 said:

How will he ever focus?

LMAO looking down at those giant shovels all the local pros tell us about.  Hes gonna shoot 100 over.

 

Also how is he going to WORK THE BALL!!! He obviously just wants to lose.

[Socrates]

31 minutes ago, tbccgolfer said:

Actually at Augusta National they gang mow the fairways..they will line up several mowers to do one fairway. There have been many pictures of their mowing process over the years. Remember money  does not always enter into their decisions. So yes they will mow as Phil has described. 

They've been doing it that way for at least a decade, so nothing new here.  Phil is finally figured out that equipment can help him out with this situation rather than have to rely on his declining talent.  Hey, he's over 50.  Stuff happens to everyone's game.  Even to Phil.

[chippa13]

39 minutes ago, tbccgolfer said:

Actually at Augusta National they gang mow the fairways..they will line up several mowers to do one fairway. There have been many pictures of their mowing process over the years. Remember money  does not always enter into their decisions. So yes they will mow as Phil has described. 

At Augusta they call them lawn maintenance apparatus and not mowers.

[MtlJeff]

33 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

I'll give Phil the benefit of the doubt.  He's only the best golfer in the world over the age of 50. 

 

He has a few wins and a handful of majors if memory serves, could beat any living pro in a short game duel from bad places

 

How many years was he ranked in the top 50 in the world ??? ... 26 !!!!!!!

 

Why was he in all of those bad places? Probably because he used unforgiving blades!

[chippa13]

10 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Why was he in all of those bad places? Probably because he used unforgiving blades!

But he knew exactly where he hit it on the face each time so he wouldn't do it again.

 

Well, actually Phil probably did do that.

[NoTalentLefty]

1 hour ago, chippa13 said:

But he knew exactly where he hit it on the face each time so he wouldn't do it again.

 

Well, actually Phil probably did do that.

Actually I game GIs and can tell miss hits. 

 

2 hours ago, nlinneman20 said:

LMAO looking down at those giant shovels all the local pros tell us about.  Hes gonna shoot 100 over.

 

Also how is he going to WORK THE BALL!!! He obviously just wants to lose.

He already games the 4 and 5 epic forged. He still can make them work the ball. 

[sm_watts]

If Phil's moving back to game improvement irons, what should I be moving back to????  Whatever's next after Super GI... Gargantuan GI?

[spring70]

how is going to get feedback when he misses the center of the club?

[Socrates]

37 minutes ago, spring7 said:

how is going to get feedback when he misses the center of the club?

He'll see the ball finish on the green and then make the putt for birdie.  That's feedback.

[Allskillz15]

I’d be willing to bet money these won’t have the cup face technology. Similar to what they did with the apex pro dot.

[AmazinBlue]

Based on his play in Houston today, I bet he dumps the 47.5" driver and he may dump the mid capper irons too. +6 with 2 double bogeys and no birdies.

Edited November 6, 2020 by AmazinBlue
Typo

[Munich77]

That is pretty cool. If he does well he may be setting a new trend.   

[JDMRN81]

2 hours ago, AmazinBlue said:

Based on his play in Houston today, I bet he dumps the 47.5" driver and he may dump the mid capper irons too. +6 with 2 double bogeys and no birdies.

Yeah, that was a pretty ugly performance (especially for a 5x major champion winner).  

Edited November 6, 2020 by JDMRN81

[grm24]

13 hours ago, third-times-a-charm said:

He has already placed T2 T28 and T31 since putting GI irons (epic forged) in the bag. No one has cared yet...

Curious. Where has Phil finished T28 and T31 this year? He finished T2 @ the WGC St Jude and has played poorly for the most part on the PGA Tour this year pre/post WGC St Jude.

 

[NC#1Hack]

14 hours ago, Socrates said:

Better take away all those PGA wins and Majors the guys won in the 80's with their Ping Eye2's.

Hats off to any of those players that could actually look down at those irons, and not throw up on their shoes. Apparently they fought off more than the competition!

 

 

[third-times-a-charm]

7 hours ago, grm24 said:

Curious. Where has Phil finished T28 and T31 this year? He finished T2 @ the WGC St Jude and has played poorly for the most part on the PGA Tour this year pre/post WGC St Jude.

 

Donno, it was on his website: https://philmickelson.com/schedule/2020-season/

[MtlJeff]

7 hours ago, grm24 said:

Curious. Where has Phil finished T28 and T31 this year? He finished T2 @ the WGC St Jude and has played poorly for the most part on the PGA Tour this year pre/post WGC St Jude.

 

 

76, 2, 54, 24, 3, 78, 44....

 

Are those his finishes or his yards of distance dispersion with his new irons ?

 

[bluedot]

To say that Mickelson has a checked history when it comes to equipment decisions would be an epic understatement.  Switching to Callaway clubs and having his first competitive round be the Ryder Cup with Tiger started the parade; I can still see Tiger's reaction when Philly Mick's first tee shot in alternate shots exited the world to the left.

 

Then it was two drivers at Augusta, one for a fade, one for a draw.  Then it was no driver, at least for the first round, at Torrey for the US Open, which was at that time the longest US Open course in history.

 

All of this capped off by not having a 3W in the bag at Winged Foot and hitting driver off a hospitality tent on the 72nd hole.

 

So I'll withhold any judgement of this decision pending some proof that it isn't more of the same.  Confusing Mickelson's talent with his decsion-making probably isn't a good idea, especially when it comes to equipment.  I always go back to Feherty after Mickelson had gotten up and down from jail saying, "If it wasn't for his wedges, he'd be selling used cars in San Diego."

[Socrates]

8 hours ago, NC#1Hack said:

Hats off to any of those players that could actually look down at those irons, and not throw up on their shoes. Apparently they fought off more than the competition!

 

 

Probably the #1 selling design of ALL TIME.  Might just be you.

[bladehunter]

12 hours ago, AmazinBlue said:

Based on his play in Houston today, I bet he dumps the 47.5" driver and he may dump the mid capper irons too. +6 with 2 double bogeys and no birdies.

But hey.  As I said. We’ve seen this experiment play out already.  Phil is grasping at straws.  What he needs to be doing is dialing in a set of irons , and a driver that he can’t curve ( yea I know ) and then making every putt he sees.  Not trying to hit 200 yard pitching wedges.  

[cardoustie]

watched him pull an 8 iron yesterday 25 yards .. yikes

 

His driver was OK until the par 5 watery grave

[cardoustie]

2 hours ago, bluedot said:

To say that Mickelson has a checked history when it comes to equipment decisions would be an epic understatement.  Switching to Callaway clubs and having his first competitive round be the Ryder Cup with Tiger started the parade; I can still see Tiger's reaction when Philly Mick's first tee shot in alternate shots exited the world to the left.

 

Then it was two drivers at Augusta, one for a fade, one for a draw.  Then it was no driver, at least for the first round, at Torrey for the US Open, which was at that time the longest US Open course in history.

 

All of this capped off by not having a 3W in the bag at Winged Foot and hitting driver off a hospitality tent on the 72nd hole.

 

So I'll withhold any judgement of this decision pending some proof that it isn't more of the same.  Confusing Mickelson's talent with his decsion-making probably isn't a good idea, especially when it comes to equipment.  I always go back to Feherty after Mickelson had gotten up and down from jail saying, "If it wasn't for his wedges, he'd be selling used cars in San Diego."

 

didn't he win that Masters where he carried 2 drivers?

 

I gotta say nowadays with low spin 4 and 5 woods going miles off the deck it wouldn't surprise me to see tour players go to a two driver system down the road.  If you only every hit driver off the tee and never a 3w, why carry a 3w?

[bluedot]

1 hour ago, cardoustie said:

 

didn't he win that Masters where he carried 2 drivers?

 

I gotta say nowadays with low spin 4 and 5 woods going miles off the deck it wouldn't surprise me to see tour players go to a two driver system down the road.  If you only every hit driver off the tee and never a 3w, why carry a 3w?

 He did in fact win the Masters that year.  And never again used two drivers there.  So take your pick as which of the two decisions is weird.  If not both...

[grm24]

4 hours ago, third-times-a-charm said:

Donno, it was on his website: https://philmickelson.com/schedule/2020-season/

His website needs updated. Per the OWGR site the T28 and T31 finishes were from events in Oct/Nov 2019.

[NoTalentLefty]

It’s amazing that Phil Mickelson can even play golf. His Psoriatic arthritis, even with the meds he is on, should be considered when we talk of his career. I’ll never trash the man’s game or playing ability.  He’s a fantastic golfer born in a time where a GOAT named Tiger happened to play. 

[Pepperturbo]

What you're not seeing in those August line mower pics, but assuming, that mowing line technique is being used on all holes; it's NOT.  Mowing direction varies depending how they want a given hole to play.

 

On TV notice some fairways show up darker on one side than the other.   We see that shading difference rather often on many tour tracks, but not all holes.  Looks cool on the TV camera.  But one side is down grain the other runs in the opposite direction, ball lands on the down grains side, more run out, lands on the opposite side less run out.

 

Augusta mows from green to tee, so balls hit into the grain of fairways, slowing them, making the hole play a bit longer.  Also controlling grain growth is a helpful way to not have to extend the yardage of the course.

 

As for Phil's clubs, it should be interesting watching him.  I just looked at those club specs, he's got to have had them adjusted.  Unless age is coming into play, Phil hasn't typically needed help getting the ball up, so that may indicate it's a good marketing move on Callaway's part to sell clubs. 

 

Typically, tour guys don't say much about the club specs either, yet Phil and Na now claim to need help.  Note, Freddy changed to Ping but little to nothing was said by Fred about his club specs, except he likes offset. 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Pepperturbo

[iNeedMoreGolf]

On 11/5/2020 at 10:41 AM, LeoLeo99 said:

He's still playing blades where it matters.  But pros should have to play blades.  No crutches and no expectation to help them look for balls.  They need to toughen up.  

I agree... blades or small cb. Lets just say if i had a crowd finding my ball weather i push fade it right or one that just rolls into the rough but is magically gone somehow, id shave a bit of strokes off too.