Don’t write off Phil Mickelson just yet
How many of us thought Tom Watson could win the 2009 British Open at almost 60 years old? Had he better judged one chip to the 18th green at Turnberry, it would have become golf legend. And it demonstrated the timeless nature of our game (“Phil Mickelson could save Champions Tour, but will he? Aug. 26).
Watson’s playoff loss to Stewart Cink was the most edge-of-my-seat, heart-wrenching golf in memory, matched only by Jordan Spieth’s Grand Slam run in 2015.
Phil Mickelson is one of the few players with the skills to win a major championship on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He demonstrates the power and finesse, and is “in the zone” at least once in every event, it seems. Will the golfing gods allow him a full weekend?
Why deny him – or us – the chance to go for it? The golfing gods are still lurking, as we saw last week with Sophia Popov’s improbable victory at Royal Troon in the Women's British Open (“Sophia Popov goes from caddie to LPGA major champion,” Aug. 23). How long before we see a junior champion competing and winning over the veterans?
What a game. Best game ever.
Gary Stauffenberg
Phoenix
You-know-who will keep Mickelson motivated on PGA Tour
Phil Mickelson will stay on the PGA Tour as long as there is a chance, no matter how remote, for him to win another event against The Other Guy (“Phil Mickelson could save Champions Tour, but will he? Aug. 26).
I do think that Mickelson would benefit the Champions Tour, but the quality of play out there looks pretty good to this old geezer. There are many seniors who still can play lights out, even though there are some for whom the lights have long been turned off and the party should be over. Guys are now arriving at the door at age 50 in far better physical shape than those who started when the Senior Tour began in 1980. The urge to compete keeps them feeling young.
Having sponsors remain in place is my concern. The older guys aren’t greedy and don’t need to use NetJets to get to their next event. Maybe when this COVID thing has turned the page, you just might see them carpool to the next tournament the way Byron Nelson, Cary Middlecoff and Bob Rosburg used to do back in the day.
Paul Vicary
The Villages, Fla.
Life imitates art in hall-of-famer’s home
I loved Gary Van Sickle’s article on Phil Mickelson and literally laughed out loud at the line about seniors still reading a newspaper (“Phil Mickelson could save Champions Tour, but will he? Aug. 26). As I read it on my computer, my husband was reading the newspaper.
Phil Mickelson is great for golf and, yes, great for the Champions Tour.
Julie Crenshaw
Austin, Texas
(Crenshaw’s husband, Ben Crenshaw, is a World Golf Hall of Fame member who is a partner in the Coore & Crenshaw course-architecture firm that designed Ozarks National Golf Course, site of the Champions Tour’s recent Charles Schwab Series tournament.)
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