Phil Mickelson could be excused for coming to Cromwell, Connecticut on an empty tank. Mickelson is still wrapped in the golden aura of Kiawah Island, and entered the Travelers Championship off an emotional week in front of his hometown crowd against a tournament that has been his career nemesis.
But, energised or not, Mickleson is golf’s human highlight machine. And that is a machine that can’t be turned off.
Mickelson proved this was the case in round one at TPC River Highlands. The 51-year-old first dropped a 63-foot birdie putt at the par-4 ninth, and in case you think that’s a typo, let us repeat: a 63-foot birdie putt:
It is Mickelson’s second-longest putt of the ShotLink era (2003) and just his third putt longer than 60 feet in the past two decades.
Now, the putt was a thunderbolt to the gallery that engulfed Mickelson, yet even us mere mortals accidentally run the occasional putt into the hole. But Mickelson showed on the 10th that the ninth was no aberration, this time draining a 40-footer for par:
That, my friends, is getting it done.
Of course, this is Phil Mickelson we’re speaking of, meaning there has to be some stumble to offset the shines. That stumble came on the par-3 11th, where Mickelson flubbed a chip shot next to the green. But no matter; this was the latest page in his ever-growing book that, on both sides of the spectrum, Phil continues to thrill.
PHOTO: Ben Jared
