Phil Mickelson is on the short list of golfers with the greatest short games of all-time. On Sunday, the 54-year-old showed that he still has elite hands while playing the LIV Golf Virginia event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.
After pushing his approach shot left of the 17th green, his ball got hung up in the rough on steep slope just above the greenside bunker. For most golfers, this is a nightmare; they would simply try to find the middle of the green, praying to avoid disaster and score par. But Lefty? He saw an opportunity to break out one of his favorite trick shots.
With his feet dug into the sand, Mickelson laid his lob wedge wide open, aimed well left of the flag and took a full swing, pulling hard over his right shoulder to turn the club through impact. The result was vintage Mickelson magic.
It would be preposterous to try this shot under any circumstance, much less in the final round of tournament play while in contention. Mickelson, naturally, not only made the attempt, he pulled it off to hole it out for birdie, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
That birdie moved him to 13 under for the week, which was where he finished in a tie for 4th alongside Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Pieters and Bubba Watson. They all ended up two shots behind winner Joaquin Niemann, who continues his dominance of LIV Golf this season as he again builds hype around his game entering the 2025 U.S. Open.
One of the best parts of golf is that we get to watch players for so much longer than any other sport, and even as Mickelson has exited his prime, he still can turn back the clock to do some incredible things — especially when he gets a wedge in his hands.
Next week will likely be Mickelson’s last U.S. Open, his 11th and final run at the career grand slam. While he’s not expected to contend at Oakmont, we might get to see a couple more flashes of brilliance from the legend.