Mickelson, Philip Alfred, 1970-, American golf pro, b. San Diego, Ca., Arizona State Univ. (BA, 1992) . Mickelson began playing golf with his father before starting school, learning by mirroring his father's strokes, thus playing left-handed although he is naturally right-handed. Attending Arizona State Univ., he won three NCAA individual championships and three Haskins Awards for outstanding college golfer (1990-92). He also won the U.S. Amateur title (1990) and his first PGA Tour event, the Northern Telecom Open (1991), while still an amateur. He went professional after graduation and soon established himself as a major force on the PGA tour, although failing to win his first major tournament until the Masters (2004; he would win that title again in 2006 and 2010). One of golf's most successful players, he has won 45 PGA tour events, including the 2021 PGA Championship, the oldest winner of that event in its history. The only major tournament he has failed to win is the U.S. Open, although he has finished six times as a runner-up, a record for that event. Among his honors are induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame (2012)
See One Magical Sunday: (But Winning Isn’t Everything) (2005, with D.T. Phillips), Secrets of the Short Game (2009, with G. Yocom and T.R. Reinman); study by D. Magee (2005).
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