Phil Mickelson ready to prove his doubters wrong

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Phil Mickelson needs to finish at least third in the BMW Championship to book travel to Atlanta for next week’s FedExCup Playoffs-ending Tour Championship by Coca-Cola.

While the odds are long — he hasn’t won since the 2013 British Open and has just three top-10s this year — Mickelson’s in good spirits heading into Thursday’s start of the BMW at Conway Farms Golf Club. In large part because he knows he’s going on a long voyage to South Korea for the Presidents Cup after Jay Haas used one of his two captain’s picks on the member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

While it was a controversial pick considering his form the past 18 months, Mickelson, who was 29th in the Presidents Cup standings, is more than ready to prove his detractors wrong.

He is off at 1:15 p.m. ET with Keegan Bradley and Fabian Gomez.

Mickelson, 45, has played on every Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team since 1994. Haas’ selection marked just the second time he was a captain’s pick.

“This is the most excited I've been this late in the year because I'm looking forward to being on the team,” said Mickelson, who is ranked 23rd in the world and stands 61st on the FedExCup. “It's meant a lot to me to be a part of that team, and I want to play well and I want to get some momentum. Also, it gave me a little bit of a boost, and my game feels like it's been coming around and feels fairly sharp, so we'll see. But I'm more excited to be playing right now than I have at any time at this point in quite a few years.”