Phil Mickelson hits shot through the trees during 2010 Masters

Masters Champions: By the Numbers

Yes sir!

Players with the most Masters victories:
Jack Nicklaus: 6
Tiger Woods: 4
Arnold Palmer: 4
Phil Mickelson: 3
Sam Snead: 3
Gary Player: 3
Nick Faldo: 3
Jimmy Demaret: 3

First champion: Horton Smith (1934)
Most recent champion: Adam Scott (2013)
Youngest champion: Tiger Woods (1997) age 21
Oldest champion: Jack Nicklaus (1986) age 46

Wins by Nationality:
United States: 57
South Africa: 5
Spain: 4
England: 3
Germany: 2
Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Canada, Argentina, Australia: 1

Number of playoffs in Masters history: 16

PGA Championship 2013 Betting Odds

The final major of the year begins August 8th at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Here are some of the betting odds for the tournament:

Tiger Woods: 5-1
Phil Mickelson: 10-1
Adam Scott: 20-1
Justin Rose: 20-1
Brandt Snedker: 20-1
Rory McILroy: 25-1
Jason Day: 33-1
Sergio Garcia: 33-1
Hunter Mahan: 33-1
Luke Donald: 33-1
Keegan Bradley: 40-1
Rickie Fowler: 50-1
Jim Furyk: 80-1
Padraig Harrington: 80-1
Vijay Singh: 250-1

Mickelson moves up the list of all time Major Champions

Phil Mickelson has now won the British Open, three Masters, and one PGA Championship. In order to complete the career grand slam, he will need to win the U.S. Open, a tournament where he has finished with a record six runner ups. His next chance at the U.S Open will be at Pinehurst, where he finished 2nd to Payne Stewart in 1999.


List of all time Major Champions:
Jack Nicklaus: 18
Tiger Woods: 14
Walter Hagen: 11
Gary Player: 9
Ben Hogan: 8
Tom Watson: 8
Arnold Palmer: 7
Sam Snead: 7
Gene Sarazon: 7
Bobby Jones: 7
Harry Vardon: 7
Nick Faldo: 6
Lee Trevino: 6
Phil Mickelson: 5
Bryon Nelson: 5
Seve Ballesteros: 5
James Braid: 5
John Henry Taylor: 5
Peter Thompson: 5

Mickelson wins Open Championship: Final Round Photos

Phil Mickelson hits backwards flop shot at Muirfield

Don't try this at home. Phil Mickelson hits his patented backwards flop shot during a practice round at Muirfield.

British Open 2013: Betting Odds

Phil Mickelson enters the British Open coming off a playoff win at the Scottish Open.

The 2013 British Open Championship begins Thursday at Muirfield in Scotland. Here are the betting odds for the week:

FAVORITES:
Tiger Woods: 8-1 (3-time British Open champion)
Phil Mickelson: 16-1 (coming off win at Scottish Open)
Adam Scott: 18-1 (2013 Masters champion)
Justin Rose: 18-1 (2013 U.S. Open champion)
Rory McILroy: 20-1 (2-time major winner)
Graeme McDowell: 22-1 (3-time winner in 2013)
Ernie Els: 25-1 (4-time major winner and defending champion)
Jason Day: 25-1 (finished top 3 at Masters and U.S. Open)

Mickelson holds a + 5.2 Handicap Index

If you are ever considering going pro, here is some useful information. Phil Mickelson, four time major winner, has a handicap index of  +5.2. Here are some of his scores from Whisper Rock, a course he is a member at.

Other Tour pros that are members there include Martin Kaymer (+4.6), Geoff Ogilvy, (+4.2), and Paul Casey (+3.9)

A very good golfer would have a low digit handicap such as 3,2, or 1. A scratch handicap would be a 0. Almost all touring pros will have a handicap with a + in front. Supposedly at one point in time, Tiger Woods was a +10.

U.S. Open Photos: Mickelson leads at -3

Phil Mickelson: From pathetic to phenomenal

With his flawless final round 64 Sunday to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Phil Mickelson showed how fast things can change in the life of a professional golfer.

Just a few weeks ago, Mickelson was playing extremely inconsistent, missed a cut, called his own play pathetic, and admittedly questioned whether or not he was working on the proper things. He complained that he was unable to stayed focused throughout his rounds. 

On Sunday, paired with Tiger Woods, Mickelson played one of the best rounds of his life. He made six birdies as well as an eagle, and drained two long putts to save par when he found trouble. He admitted afterword that playing with Woods amps him up and heightens his focus to the highest levels.

Photos: Phil Mickelson wins with final round 64 at Pebble Beach

Mickelson 15 shots back at Torrey Pines after "pathetic" first round 77

Phil Mickelson is usually money at Torrey Pines but he had a terrible first round Thursday at the Farmer's Insurance Open. Playing on the more difficult South Course, he shot a 5-over par 77, 15 shots back of leaders Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley, who both shot 62 on the North Course.

"I had some good days of practice and I was ready to play. I don't know what happened, I just wasn't able to focus. Obviously, I made some bad swings just in the wrong spots and so forth. But I felt like my game was ready heading in, and I don't know what to say about the score because it was pathetic."

Not sure what's going on with Phil so far in 2012 but he's obviously not off to the greatest start. Mickelson has admitted staying focused has been one of his weaknesses throughout this career and this round seems to be a good example.

Mickelson is known for pulling off brilliant shots and going on ridiculous hot streaks, but is also capable of having mental lapses and high scores that seem to come out of nowhere.

One possibility is that he's just bored with "normal tournaments" because he's been on Tour so long. Hopefully he will still be able to get fired up for the Majors this year because golf is much more interesting when Phil is in the mix.

The 2012 Major Champions will be ...

THE MASTERS: TIGER WOODS
Tiger has won the Masters four times and seems to be in contention at Augusta even when he doesn't have his A game. He finished in the top five the past two years despite injuries, swing changes, and the scandal. This year he appears to be healthy, his swing changes have become more ingrained, he's coming off a win at Chevron, and he'll have at least 4-5 tournaments to play prior to Augusta to prepare. Look for Woods to get his 15th major victory this April and get back on track to breaking Jack's record of 18.

U.S. OPEN: PHIL MICKELSON
Mickelson has finished runner-up five times in the U.S. Open and he wants this tournament more than any other. He's approaching his mid-forties so his window of opportunity to win is closing. No one knows if Phil will show up with one driver, two drivers, no driver, a regular putter, or a belly putter. Regardless, he will be gearing up and trying to peak this summer to try and win his first U.S. Open. He still has a good chance to win the career grand slam.

BRITISH OPEN: RORY MCILROY 
Well on his way to becoming the number one player in the world, McILroy is the most talented golfer to hit the scene since Woods. Injuries aside, he will no doubt be a top ten player in the world for the next decade. He should have won the Masters last year and won the U.S. Open in a runaway.  He grew up in Northern Ireland playing links style courses and there's no question he will eventually win the Open Championship. Other than Woods, McILroy is the only player with the potential in winning the calendar year Grand Slam. Look for him to earn his second career major in 2012.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: SERGIO GARCIA
Now in his 30s, it doesn't seem possible that a player with his talent could go a career without winning a major championship. After a self-imposed hiatus from golf, he came back last year looking sharp and winning back to back tournaments on the European Tour. Of course, he also made news for slinging his 4 iron into a lake after a bad shot. Garcia is definitely a wild card, but if he gets his putter rolling and keeps his head in check, he could finally win his first major championship in 2012.

Mickelson: Tiger comeback "inevitable"

Phil Mickelson had some good things to say about the impending and inevitable comeback of Tiger Woods.

"I've played with him a couple times throughout the year, watched him hit it, and you can tell his swing speed has come back."

"So I don't know when it will all click and he'll be back to his normal self but I feel like it's inevitable that he will get back there because he keeps getting better and better.

Mickelson going into Golf Hall of Fame

Phil Mickelson will be the next member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

He's won 39 career tournaments including three Masters and one PGA Championship. Mickelson is playing in the Singapore Open this week and the President's Cup in Australia next week.  

Q. Besides all the achievements and this landmark, as well, becoming a Hall of Famer, if you could give us a bit of perspective, what it means for a professional golfer to be part of this elite company, and also, does it make you feel old?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, the great thing about golf is that we're able to play for a lifetime. We're able to compete for a lifetime. What the PGA Tour has done, and much thanks to Commissioner Finchem by creating such a strong Champions Tour, it allows players to compete well into their 60s. So golf has become kind of a lifelong career, where other sports it's not. Other sports it's more of a finite timeline. So I guess it might be a little unique or a little bit different. I don't want to say that I feel old because I don't feel it. I feel like I've got a lot of great golf ahead of me, and I feel terrific and have been playing well. The scores didn't reflect it today, but it's close, and I just feel like I can take that knowledge from the last 20 years and apply it to my game and hopefully continue to add to the accomplishments that have already gotten me into the Hall.

Q. I'm curious, you're in the Hall of Fame now, but what's left? What important goals do you still want to accomplish before you retire?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I still want to win a number of golf tournaments. I'd like to get to that magical number of 50 that only a few guys have gotten to as far as total tournaments, but also I think that finally getting a U.S. Open would mean a lot to me as well as a British Open, which would complete the career slam. I came very close last year at Royal St. George's to getting that British. I've had five seconds in the U.S. Open; I've been very close. And I'm going to try to take that knowledge I've gained over the years that have led to those good performances and see if I can get over the hump and win those. I think that would be two special monumental feats for me to accomplish. 

WGC-Bridgestone to feature many intriguing pairings

Like any professional sport or business, the PGA Tour is all about bringing in the money. One way to bring added attention and to get better ratings is to have a good selection of pairings during tournaments. It seems over the past few years, and especially 2011, the tour has put a focus on creating many viewer friendly pairings. This week at the WGC-Bridgestone is no different, and it's very obvious to tell they are handpicking the pairings.

Tiger Woods / Darren Clarke
Rickie Fowler / Matteo Manassero
Luke Donald / Charl Schwartzel
Graeme McDowell / Lee Westwood
Rory McILroy / Hunter Mahan
Phil Mickelson / Jason Day
Martin Kaymer / Bubba Watson
Nick Watney / Steve Stricker
Matt Kuchar / Ryo Ishikawa
Adam Scott / Dustin Johnson
Sergio Garcia / Retief Goosen

Tiger with Rory, Tiger with Phil, or Tiger with Adam Scott because of the caddie drama would have given them even bigger ratings, but either way, they made some good choices. It's almost a guarantee that this week will see the highest television ratings of the year besides the Majors, especially if Woods is in contention.

Another almost for Mickelson at a Major

Phil Mickelson almost did it again. He almost posted an insane number in the final round of a major championship to win. In a round mixed with brilliance and mediocrity, Mickelson had American golf fans watching in awe during his front-nine and then saying "wtf" on the back-nine.

For anyone who missed it, Mickelson began with three birdies and an eagle through the first seven holes. He then lipped out a 10 footer for birdie at the 8th, and left another short birdie putt on the edge of the cup at the 9th. His score very easily could have been 28, but he settled for a 30, putting him in great position to win.

Finally looking like he had truly learned how to play links golf, Mickelson was hitting great shot after great shot with a variety of knockdowns. With a great approach shot at the 10th, he made another birdie, moving to six under for his round.

And then, out of nowhere, he missed a two foot par putt on the 12th, proceeded to make three more bogeys coming in, finished with a back-nine 38, and lost by three to Darren Clarke. It seems hard to explain other than golf is very difficult and it must be extremely hard to keep up that level of play for the entire round, especially during the final round of a major. But really, I don't know how he missed a dead straight two footer.

This isn't the first time Mickelson has done this. At the 2009 Masters, he made six birdies on the front-nine to post 30, but then dumped his tee shot into Rae's creek at the 12th, making the mistake of missing right, which everyone knows you should never do. From there, he shot 37 on the back for 67, and lost by three to Angel Cabrera.

Tiger Woods had a similar round going at this year's Masters in which he shot a front-nine 31, but missed a three footer for par at coincidentally, the 12th hole, which slowed all his momentum. From there, he shot 37 for a 67 and lost by four to Charl Schwartzel.

These are three perfect examples of how hard it is for a golfer, even for two of the top players of all time, to keep all the momentum going for an entire round during the final round of a major championship.

Brandel Chamblee = Mute Button

Golf channel analyst Brandel Chamblee gets paid to provide his opinions, all of which seem to be either wrong, or include him constantly flip-floping.

He has now joined sports personalities Chris Berman and Dick Vitale for people I have to turn the mute button on for. In the brief segments I did actually listen to him during Masters week, I was not surprised to hear the same old story.

First, he has been one of the biggest critics of Tiger Wood's swing changes and Sean Foley's teaching methods for the past nine months. He has repeated over and over that Woods is working on the wrong things and he won't find success with this new method.

After Wood's 66 Friday at the Masters, Chamblee all of a sudden states that Tiger looked to be in "complete control of his game," especially with his putting, and that he was looking like the Woods of old. As we know, Woods full swing looked great while his putting was slightly off.

The point is Chamblee has grilled Tiger for nearly a year saying that his swing changes will never work, but now all of a sudden he praises Woods for his improvement.

As for his opinions on Phil Mickelson, Chamblee said that although Lefty had a tough week at the Masters, he will certainly have many more years of success at Augusta and will most likely win it again. Then, literally less than one minute later, when speaking of Mickelson's arthritis, he said Phil will not be able to have much success over the next decade because of the condition. Huh? What? Chamblee, you just said the exact opposite thing one minute ago.

He then turned into Dr. Chamblee, giving his diagnosis for Phil's arthritis and describing how it will be treated, and the difficulty the doctors will have in changing treatment programs for him as the disease changes. Never knew Chamblee went to medical school. By the way, Mickelson did shoot 63-65 on the weekend two weeks ago to win in Houston so the doctors must be doing well so far.

The bottom line is Chamblee is the biggest moron on golf television.

7/26/2013 UPDATE: Tiger Woods has won four times in 2013 and is now number one in the world. Phil Mickelson has just won his 5th major championship and is now number two in the world. Unfortunately, Chamblee is still talking on the golf channel.

Masters 2011 pairings announced

The Masters pairings and tee times have been announced for the first two days of the tournament.

A look at some notable pairings and Thursday times:

Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney, Adam Scott 8:40am
(Butch Harmon coached group)

Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day 9:24am
(Young gun group)

Padraig Harrington, Ryo Ishikawa, Bill Haas 9:57 am
(Ishikawa donating all winnings to Japan)

Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar 10:19am
(#1, #2, #10 in the world rankings)

Hunter Mahan, Ernie Els, Francesco Molinari 10:30am

Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell, Robert Allenby 10:41am
(Woods #7 in world rankings, McDowell #5)

Angel Cabrera, Ian Poulter, David Toms 11:47am

Fred Couples, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker 12:53pm
(Couples 1993 champ, Donald #3 in world, Stricker #8)

Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, Peter Uihlein 1:48pm
(Mickelson defending champ and #3 in world, Uihlein U.S. Amateur champ)

The Masters Betting Odds

Coming off his win Sunday at the Shell Houston Open, and heading into Augusta as the defending champion, Phil Mickelson is favored to win this week at the Masters.

A look at some notable player odds:

Phil Mickelson 6-1
Tiger Woods 10-1
Lee Westwood 14-1
Nick Watney 16-1
Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson 20-1
Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy 25-1
Hunter Mahan, Padraig Harrington, Matt Kuchar 28-1
McDowell, Stricker, Watson, Anthony Kim, Fowler 33-1
Fred Couples 80-1
Ryo Ishikawa 150-1
Tom Watson 400-1

Looking at the overall board, there are so many players capable of winning. Of course, there is Tiger and Phil with seven combined green jackets already. There is a host of European players who could take it, a bunch of great young players in search of their first major, as well as a group of wily veterans prepared to win.

I'd love to see someone like Fowler, Ishikawa, or AK win. It would be great for golf. 

Place your bets!