Presidents Cup teammates marvel at Lefty’s longevity
Phil Mickelson is the voice of experience in team competition, and there’s no comparison.
He was on the putting green Wednesday morning at the Presidents Cup, explaining to some of the six rookies on the American team why the teams might change for the final day of practice, the schedule after the team photo, just about anything short of how to tie their shoes.
Mickelson has played in the Presidents Cup every year since it began in 1994. He has played in every Ryder Cup since 1995. Add them up and this will be his 23rd consecutive time playing in a team event.
For someone like PGA champion Justin Thomas, playing in his first one, that can be hard to fathom.
“I can’t, especially because I was 1 when he was playing in his first one, which is really crazy to think,” Thomas said. “I would love to see what kind of person he was then. I’m sure he was still the same kind of guy. But it’s crazy. To be that good for that long and to have the reputation that he does, being that much of a leader, a role model in the team rooms ... I don’t know if it will ever be topped.”
Playing on so many Presidents Cup teams has mainly been a happy occasion. The Americans have lost only one of them, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, and tied the International team in 2003 in South Africa.
The International team, with Nick Price as captain for a third straight time, gets another chance to end a losing streak that is getting out of hand.
We’ve got a lot of power,” Price said. “I’ve always said this — 18-hole match play is anybody’s game.”
It’s been in the American game in this format, and Mickelson always figures into the equation.
That ultimately might be one of his greatest legacies when the Presidents Cup begins on Thursday at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Mickelson heads to the first tee with Kevin Kisner against Jason Day and Marc Leishman.
It will be his 52nd match in the Presidents Cup and 97th match overall in either cup. Mickelson’s 23 career teams might not be topped for a long time.
One player who could match Mickelson is Jordan Spieth. He played in his first Presidents Cup at age 20 and this is his fifth team. He has the ability. He has age on his side.
“What has to happen is staying healthy, staying good, staying driven,” Spieth said. “To go through life the way he has and put family first, yet still being able to become of the top 10 and for the most part top couple golfers in the country, is really remarkable.”
TIGER IS BACK, SORT OF >> Tiger Woods made it back from his fourth surgery in time for the Presidents Cup. Just not to play. “There were times when ... I didn’t know if I was going to be able to be here because I couldn’t ride in a cart,” Woods said. “The bouncing just hurt too much. Driving a car still hurt. So that’s all gone now, which is fantastic. And yeah, there were some intrepid times not just for this golf tournament, but for life going forward.”
Woods looks as fit as ever. He said in a blog he posted last week that he was working out six days a week, alternating among a treadmill, his bike, swimming and lifting weights twice a day. He is hitting wedges up to 60 yards, but that’s as far as he said his doctors will allow him to go. BRACING FOR A TRUMP VISIT >> The Presidents Cup is living up to its name like never before. The three previous U.S. presidents will be on the first tee at Liberty National for the start of the matches Thursday, and the PGA Tour is bracing for a Sunday visit by President Donald Trump.