Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson is one the greatest golfers ever, and the oldest (at 50 years) to win a major tournament, in 2021 (PGA Championship). Two years later, at age 52, Mickelson nearly won the Masters with a spectacular final-round score of 65 while tying for runner-up. This set a record: "At 52, he becomes the oldest player to ever finish inside the top-5 at the Masters."[1]
Overall Mickelson has won 6 majors, tying him for 12th on the list of all-time career winners of major golf tournaments:
- Masters (3): 2004, 2006, 2010
- PGA Championship (2): 2005, 2021
- British Open ("The Open Championship"): 2013
Mickelson is also a six-time runner-up at the U.S. Open, which is the only major tournament he has not won.
Mickelson is known as "Lefty" for being left-handed, which is not as common in golf as in other sports where it can be advantage such as baseball and tennis. (He is actually right-handed, but learned to swing left-handed by mimicking his father's stance in a mirror.)
Mickelson is so popular that the new LIV players' group paid him a reported $200M to join its tour in 2022. LIV is holding two of its tournaments in 2022 at Trump-owned golf courses.
However, Mickelson's popularity has declined in recent years, after allegations of insider trading (he agreed to a settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission whereby he returned all of the profits made from a trade which was questioned as illegal) and excessive gambling debts; the latter being the source of speculation that the LIV Tour decision was more financial than a desire to compete on a new format.
