Unbelievable. The guy has shot the lights out recently, and he was 5 over yesterday.....and looks like he's on the way to another over-par round today.

PHIL !!!!!!

Is anybody HOME ?!?!?!?!?

WAKE UP, DUDE!

I doubt he's the first player to ever do this, give the guy a break.

That's kinda who Phil is...lights out one tournament, and very sketchy the next. If you're rooting for him for the Masters, you better hope he gets it

out of his system now...

This is a Masters setup. If he's doing this NOW, he may be in deep trouble.

Its all about Phils swing, hes just not consistent (for a top player in the world). His short game and scrambling have won him many tourneys though, but when you are inconsistent like he is your not going to be as consistent as Tiger is. Tiger is the favorite no doubt next week.

I DO give him a break. I'm probably the biggest "Phil Phan" on this place.

It's just amazing to be how someone with THAT kind of talent can totally implode like he's doing right now.....

OR maybe he's trying something new? YEAH....THAT'S IT ! He's OK. He's just experimenting this week!

Man....that is a relief. I was getting concerned there for a minute.........

Yes ... good grief ... he's already 2 over on the day after seven holes, +7 for the tourney (where the cut line is -2).

He's always been a bit of an inconsistant player (when he's on he is really world class, when he's off he can be pretty bad) ... but this year he seems to be going to extremes ... his stats after this week ... 7 tournaments, 2 wins, and 2 missed cuts ('bout as extreme as you can get ... and the cuts he's missing he's missing by a lot). And this is someone who only missed a single cut in last year's entire season.

It is very weird ... from the beginning of the year something has seemed sort of odd about him (even when he was winning). Not sure what it is ... but he just seems different.

I don't like him all that much, but certainly acknowledge him as a good golfer. IMO, he should fire all of his coaches for a few months, and work with a sports psychologist to just let his natural game flow.

If you are a Phil fan why are you so surprised by this this is normal for him.

I'm not surprised.....just disappointed. I wanted to see him come out and give that "other guy" a little run for the money this year.

Something bothering you about my comments?

maybe he wanted to go to augusta a couple days early

why is everyone so quick to say how bad phil is. yes not a good round yesterday with no birdies and a double bogey. and today he is one over but has a triple bogey. phil will relax this weekend work with butch harmon and then be ready to compete at the masters. you need to remeber that Phil and Tiger are more interested in MAJORS then anything esle. so it is not big lose for him to miss a cut this week and have a little more time to prepare for the Masters. the last time he didnt play the weekend he came out a won 2 of 3 and had a worse finish of 9th so i personally dont think this week will effect his play next week at all

Winner...

knowing Phil and how much emphasis he puts on majors, in particular augusta. He's probably playing poorly because he's trying to hit literally the exact same shots he'll hit next week (ie: like i bet he's hitting 9 iron off the tee @ 12 even though at redstone it's a par 4, simply because he's visualising Golden Bell). He probably doesn't even realize he's at Redstone, to be honest. With those exact shots next week at augusta he'd be like 10 under, at least.

I wasn't saying that Phil was BAD, I was just venting my personal frustrations about the way he was playing this week. I really WANT to see him become more consistent and be a force in the game like he should be.

And hopefully you're right about this not effecting him next week.

Nobody said he was bad.

Your defense actually has nothing to do with the topic at hand and is unnecessary. The question is how can a top player in the world be so inconsistent? It is a fair, and interesting, question.

Although your excuses for why being a looser this week is actually a Good Thing™ are interesting in themselves, it doesn't change the fact that Phil is inconsistent (and a looser this week).

2 double bogeys...wow.

I'm sure a lot of you are watching the NBC broadcast right now, but Johnny Miller was just saying Phil has alignment issues (according to Butch Harmon).

I'm rooting for TW to win at Augusta, but I hope Phil gets it together before next week.

Lets go Briny Baird and TA3 for this weekend

Phil should consider playing right handed.

If any of you are truly a Phil fan, then you don't want him to win this week. No one has ever won the Masters after winning the previous week.

Seriously, this is what makes Phil great for golf - entertainment. What did he do in Arizona this year? Played like sh*t, got everyone talking what's wrong with Phil, only the diehards even considered him for their fantasy team at Riviera where he was defending champion, and what does he do? Wins Riviera.

What other world class golfer gives you this entertainment. For Tiger to be this entertaining, he has to fake knee injury at a major (KIDDING!). Phil has choked a way a ton of tournaments, and won more than he has choked away. He's really overcome a few quirks that most golfers never figure out.

I love watching the guy because you just never know what you are going to get. Golf needs story lines around the top players, without them, it would just be a bunch of robots out there and that's boring.

What? Do you ever read the TW threads when hes not playing well? When he came from his injury he got beat 2nd round of the match play and then got a top 10 at Doral. There were many people on here saying that he might never win again and maybe his swing changes weren't going to work since he wasn't winning. Not only that but people legitimately said Phil would take over #1 and TW's reign was officially over. Phil is going to miss the cut by 10-11 shots this week...can you imagine what people would say if TW did that? He won his 3rd tournament back after an 8 month layoff and it wasn't good enough. To say that Phil is playing bad to get to the Masters early is just flat out dumb. Although I don't think that his performance this week will have a huge affect on how he plays next week. This week if why Phil will probably never take over #1.

This isn't true. In fact, Phil himself has done it.

damn you beat me to it!

2006 man, when he won the 2006 bellsouth by 73 shots

Exactly.

I am not a Phil hater, but seriously....comparing him to TW by saying that "Phil and Tiger are more interested...." is WAY off the mark IMO.

Of course the majors are the priority, but how many times have you seen Tiger miss a cut by 10 shots?? Tiger seems to be on the first page of the board nearly every time he tees it up.

There is a HUGE difference between the way these two guys compete on a weekly basis, major or not.

Tim

All of his problems, i mean all, are in his head. I agree with MIDAS, this man seriously needs a sports psychologist... or a life coach/tony robbins "your a winner today" person to walk with him at all times. The talent is obviously there, he just falls apart. Its really sad to tell the truth..

Phil has all the tools to constantly challenge for the 1 ranking, but he is so shaky he makes sergio garcia look like a mental anvil. Shame on you phil, your better than that.

It's a good day cause I can call and razz my mom who likes to root for Phil. I call on the phone and start coughing, she then says all right all right, what did Phil do now.

I knew that, I just wanted to see if I could sneak it past the real Phil fans. Anyway, regardless of his play this week, Phil is a contender for the Masters.

The real shocker is Mickelson finished this week 5 shots behind Duval! So I expect the Duval fans to start another "he's back" thread.

yeah, it seemed kind of weird that you wouldn't know that. I've read your posts, you know your stuff.

buuuuttttt i just had to make sure. Plus i wanted to see if anyone would reply to me and say "it wasn't 73 shots...it was only 13 sheesh"

I'm not a real big Phil fan but what the hell? Hes the 2nd best player on the planet, hes got 3 majors and is a threat to win every time he tees it up. Hes won millions of dollars doing something he enjoys, not many of us can say were the 2nd best at something in the WORLD. As much golf as these guys play, you CANNOT play good every single week, every single round, every single hole....you just can't. Really if you think about it, everyone is compared to Tiger which is an unfair comparison because hes a once in a lifetime player. Phil IMO doesn't need a mental coach, hes fine...you are aloud to play bad once in awhile...I just think its funny to hear all the idiotic opinions of people that think a guys career is over or the guy just isn't the same anymore because he misses a cut...or in Tigers case he doesn't win. Phil will probably never challenge TW for #1 because honestly IMO hes just not as good.

Walter Hagen is an excellent example of a guy who didn't let one week's poor performance bother him. He could tank one week and seven days later put the field down in another event. Perhaps Mickelson has heard of this guy?

phil has all best coaches that do not know when to leave him alone this pelze guy is the most overrated guy in golf 17"'s past the hole crazy what happens if you are 15 " s from the hole..

He better go back and check his math..

Phil will bounce back for the Masters.

Yeah, good post...

Guy has won 30+ times plus three majors- he's horrible...

Who are you a fan of??

3 majors? Isn't that the same number that Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem and Paul Lawrie have combined? All right handers btw. When was the last time a no name lefty won anything?

Clearly Phil is looking at much better odds with right handed sticks. Not sure why we are even discussing it. Pretty obvious. Jeez.

Its called golf. Everyone hits a bad patch, but it seems silly for guys that fire 80s-90s to criticize the play of one of the best players of all time





some days your the bug and some days your the windshield

Wo said his career was over? Who said he just isn't the same? oh yeah all the people, right. I said what was in the quote, read it again, its a bout 5 lines you responded with a whole paragraph, calling everyone idiots, only to slam the door with some tiger nuthuggery at the end. congrats fool.

Phil does not have the mental stability, of a consistent golfer, who wins then misses the cut? Who does that! (gary radnich) He is great and he still has all the skills and a whole lot of golf ahead of him. I would bet as he gets into his 40's he becomes more stable/steady from week to week. It will all come together for him, the skills have always been there, prob more than any other golfer on tour. But the real game is between the ears.

but the thing is, everyone is always going to be compared to what Tiger is doing. Tiger makes it look easy, Tiger makes sinking impossible putts look routine. Phil is my favorite player, and when he's done he'll literally be one of the greatest players ever. He's had an amazing career in the Tiger era. If Woods hadn't come along Phil may have been the best player of our generation, and he'd likely have more wins and majors than he does now. People always say the guy doesn't have the mental game. But his numbers are the second best of the last 20 years, and he has actually become a good finisher over the years. It just pales in comparison to Tiger. No shame in that.

IIRC, didn't Phil get caught in that unplayable weather on Thursday? He was basically out of the tourny (along with many other players) who drew the bad draw of having to play in those conditions. My guess would be, after that stretch and with the Master's next week, his "give-a-damn" factor was near 0. From what the players say about the tole it takes on the swing from playing in high winds (like in HI), I can't blame him for wanting to head East ASAP to get some beneficial prep in.

No sir, you are the fool for thinking you know whats best for the 2nd best player on the planet. My point is as soon as a player has a bad week there are people so quick to judge what they are doing...example is this week with Phil. My Tiger example is from the threads last week where some said he would never win again or his career was on the way out, etc. Phil misses around 3 cuts every year...thats just how the game works...its nearly impossible to play well every single week. I didn't call everyone idiots, I said there are idiots that come on here and spew off about whats good for the best players in the world when they have off weeks. Come back on here the next time TW doesn't win a tournament and theres always someone who says he needs this or that. 2 months ago people were saying Phil was done because he was struggling then 1 month ago the same people are saying Phil was the best player on the planet because he won at Doral. Obviously you dont play much golf or else you would know that you dont hit it the same every single day. Are you trying to say hes been there more than or has more skills than Tiger?

I think Phil's attention is on the Masters. He is probably trying some things in competition that will serve him next week. There is no way that course in Tx plays anything like Augusta National. They say this on tv every year and I think it is ridiculous. He will be fine and be in contention on Sunday next week.

Well since we are all contemplating what is best for a top ten golfer, I'll throw in my ill-informed 2¢...

Phil is a risk taker. His good rounds will be great and his bad rounds will be bad. Risk takers are going to be like that... it really isn't about being consistent, Phil is consistent in his approach to the game. However, sometimes a risk taker bites off more than they can chew - that's why they are risks! It also makes Phil fun to watch, and he's the kind of golfer it would be fun to golf with.

The only thing I'd like to see Phil do is hit Pelz in the head with a rake and bury him in the nearest bunker. Pelz has turned one of the most creative short game players into a ham-fisted automaton. I'm not totally poo-pooing Pelz, but for a golfer like Mickelson, Pelz' data driven method is like pounding a square peg into a round hole.

Yes he will and BTW if you didn't notice he was playing in 35-40 mph winds! Yes others were too but very few rounds were under par in that morning round.

Ahhh, no I get it. Its all about playing the odds...

And agreed...
Perhaps its not all that has plagued him recently( read: driver) but I feel its an overwhelmingly huge portion of it...

I followed him for six holes on Friday morning and he was all over the place with his shots, and not just his driver. He hit it in the water on #7, a par 3 from the tee. Everything was going left (slicing) for him. He called Butch in to town and yesterday they just worked on shots after he knew he wasn't making the cut.

One little sidenote- I let him cut in line at the portacan on hole 6. He had to go really bad!

Mickleson is a terrible wind player. I'm surprised he even turned up this week, such is his well known hatred of it. As such I don't see it's any big surprise that he was cack this week.

He'll be in the mix at Augusta. I'm pretty sure of that.