Mickelson misses the cut at his 30th Open
There was still hope as Phil Mickelson prepared for his last drive of the day at No. 9.
It was pretty much gone by the time he got to his tee shot.
Mickelson was 1-over for the week and 4-over for the day in Round 2 of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and he needed a birdie at the last hole to have any chance of making the cut.
His drive was so far left that he hit a provisional just to be safe. The first tee shot ended up in a little swale of hard, desert ground, and Mickelson decided to give it a go. There wasn’t much to lose at that point.
Mickelson sent the ball soaring over a swarm of fans lined along the fairway and actually hit the green. His 56-foot birdie try fell short, the cut line moved to 1-under shortly after and Mickelson was suddenly heading home before the party even really started.
The 48-year-old Arizona State grad finished at 1-over after an ugly secondround 75, two shots off the cut line. Not the week he was hoping for in his 30th career start at TPC Scottsdale. It was also the week he was hoping to secure his 500th made cut at an official PGA Tour event.
Mickelson has seen far better days here as a three-time champion. He won most recently in 2013, a year in which he set the course record with an 11-under 60 in the opening round. He’s also still the all-time leading money earner at this event, though that could change if Hideki Matsuyama comes back to win over the weekend.
“When I first started playing the tournament I always felt this was a good golf course for me,” Mickelson said earlier in the week. “Always thought I would play well here and I always believed I would win this event. One of the things that I could not have foreseen is probably the size, scale, scope of what this tournament has become. The 16th hole, what a famous and unique experience that is from a golfer standpoint. It’s unlike anything we have. It was always special, but it became something bigger and larger than I think I ever thought possible.”
Mickelson grabbed a quick bite after his round and left the course without speaking to reporters Friday afternoon. It’s just his second missed cut here over the last 10 years and denied him a chance at another record – Mickelson has now played 106 career rounds in this tournament and was set to surpass Gene Littler’s all-time record of 107 over the weekend.
There was also plenty of promise entering the week after a T-2 in his last start at the Desert Classic, but it ended with a dud as Mickelson made just one birdie in Round 2 and failed to get any momentum going during what should have been a milestone week.