Mickelson was born June 16, 1970, in San Diego, CA. He went to college at Arizona State University. He currently lives in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, with his wife, Amy, and their three young children. Mickelson is the most successful left-handed golfer to date. He started hitting golf balls when he was 18 months old. Like a lot of successful tour players, his dad was a golf pro. Does this seem like some sort of aristocracy to you little commies out there? Then you should go out and try to hit a golf ball some time. It's quite difficult, isn't it?
Phil Mickelson has been a member of three Ryder Cup and three Presidents Cup Teams. In 1990, he became the only left-handed player to win the U.S. Amateur. He's one of only three golfers to win the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in same year. The other two are Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
Mickelson has faced one of the situations in golf which many players would envy, but one which cannot have been comfortable for a man with such talent. He had won 22 times on Tour, beginning in 1991. However, he had played in 46 major tournaments and never won one, even though he'd been in contention several times. He had become known as one of those "best players on Tour to never win a major," and every time he'd tee it up in one of the four major tournaments on the PGA Tour, the expectations ran high. This put a lot of pressure on Mickelson and some have said that he threw away a couple of these chances due to reckless play when he should have kept his head about him and been more thoughtful. This curse came to an end on Easter at the 2004 Masters when he shot 31 on the back nine to beat Ernie Els by one stroke and claim the Green Jacket. Ironically enough, this became the second year in a row that the Masters was won by a left-handed player. Mike Weir of Canada was the 2003 winner.
The weird thing about Mickelson, and you'll find this true in a lot of left-handed golfers: This is the only thing he does left-handed. His dad would teach him the swing as a right-handed golfer, and Phil would mimic it in a mirror image. What a great way to spend time with your dad.