The 30th of April, 2001, was a different time for Phil Mickelson, who was ranked No.2 at the time. But now, is he nearing the end of his career? Like you, the 18x major champion Jack Nicklaus was confused and said, “Well, you know, I don’t know what level Phil is competing at.” That’s right. The Golden Bear had no idea what Lefty was doing with his career and added, “I don’t know if he’s playing or not. I don’t know, you never see that anymore.” Now, after the second round at Augusta National, Nicklaus’s comments on the LIV Golfer’s career are proven right.

While he grabbed a podium finish with third place at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March, the rest of Phil Mickelson’s season has been more of a rollercoaster than a victory lap—T23 in Adelaide, T19 in Singapore, and a glimmer of form with sixth in Miami. It’s been a patchy scorecard, more spark than sizzle.

In January 2023, Mickelson went candid: “I’m embarrassed with how I played,” after his performance during the 2022 LIV Golf season. He was reflecting on his struggles during the inaugural LIV season, where he failed to crack the top 25 and struggled to a 40th-place finish out of 48. Hardly the form of a six-time major champion.

Then, recently, Nosferatu (posts updates on Olympic golf ranking) shared an update saying, “This week, Phil Mickelson has dropped outside of the top 1000 in the world for the first time in his long career (#1009). The MC at #themasters means that he will not get back inside for now… #OWGR.” In the first round of the Masters, Lefty carded a 75. He might have hoped to bounce back on the second day, but a 74 with 5-over didn’t let him. As a result, he missed the cut and had to exit the tournament early. 

This, of course, seems to be the opposite of Mickelson’s initial plan. With the solo third finish in Hong Kong and a 6th place finish at the LIV Golf Miami, he was looking in decent form before coming to the Masters. Not only that, he even confidently said, “We are starting to trend up. We are starting to play really well. And there are four majors. So, my goal is to win a LIV event. My goal to win another major, I can feel is within reach.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, and the career of a 6x major champion now hits rock bottom.

That said, a comeback is still very much within reach for him. We’ve seen it happen before—Tiger Woods‘ incredible win at the 2019 Masters after battling a back injury. He clinched his 15th major after a 13-year drought. But there’s one factor that could be a tougher obstacle this time for Phil Mickelson: age. At 54, Lefty is nearly twice the age of some of the young talents on the course today. While his experience is undeniable, the reality is that the human body has its limits. Despite the setbacks, Mickelson is still positive and has some plans for the rest of the majors.

What is Phil Mickelson’s plan?

For Mickelson, patience seems to be the key to victory. Luckily, the golfer has that. In Miami, he talked about his approach toward the shots and said, “I would press. I would force the issue.” However, this strategy can backfire, and it did for him back in the 1999 Masters. On the par-5 Firethorn (15th), the golfer tried to “force the issue,” which eventually resulted in bogeys or worse. Later, the golfer accepted that a 5 on the 15th is fine because it’s not like the end of the tournament.

The 54-year-old talked about it, saying, “When I finally did win it, I felt like, all right, a 5 is okay there. Like, I could lose the tournament on 15; I don’t need to make 4 every time.” Thanks to that, he finally won his first Masters in 2004. Aside from that, Mickelson is also cooking up with smarter club selections and focusing on the best possible outcome. While it might help him further in the coming years, Lefty is strong mentally as well. “I’ve been able to think much better. I’ve been able to process things much better, stay present much better, not force it much better than I have in the past,” he shared recently.

Do you think these are enough for Phil Mickelson to win his 7th major title? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!