What can you say about Phil Mickelson? During these days of young, athletic golfers who seem to dominate by hitting the ball miles you cannot help but cheer on a 47 year old who shows them all the way. On Sunday Phil beat them all in the first WGC event of the year, narrowly pipping golf’s hottest property currently, Justin Thomas, in a play off.
To be fair this is not just any 47 year old. Phil has often been called ‘the gifted one’ by many of his peers and without a doubt if it wasn’t for a certain Mr. Tiger Woods he would have won a bunch more majors than the five that he has. In fact, considering he has lived during the Woods era his five majors is a tally that speaks perhaps far more than most. It was a fantastic final day in Mexico and Phil winning was a fitting finale, but there were a few other performances worth mention. Firstly, Thomas nearly won again after an incredible holed wedge, for eagle, on his 72nd hole that looked as though it would seal victory. Tyrell Hatton will surely be cursing himself after bogeying the last while in a share of the lead but his form going into the main body of the season cannot be overlooked. Bubba Watson showed his form again over the weekend to get back into the top 10 and Dustin Johnson did the same without being noticed over the four days. When those players are strolling around in good numbers when it’s slightly off you know their best is not far away. I can’t stop there without also mentioning Michelle Wie who won in Singapore over the weekend, ending her Mickelson equalling drought of four years without a win. Most of us will remember her coming to fame nearly twenty years ago as a teenager who was billed to become as big as Tiger Woods. Pressure seems to have hampered her over the years and that hasn’t quite happened (not that I’d take her on off scratch) so you can’t help but have a similar feeling for both of them. I seem to say this a lot but with all this going on already I can’t wait for the rest of the year to come. | 
