Phil Mickelson's season ends, but he sees glimpses of improvement
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Phil Mickelson capped one of his worst seasons with a 4-under-par 67 Sunday in the final round of the BMW Championship, finishing in the middle of the pack and well outside the top 30 who move on to next week’s FedExCup Playoffs finale.
Mickelson, who hasn’t won since capturing his fifth major championship in the 2013 British Open, had just three top-10s in 19 starts this year. But the winner of 42 PGA Tour titles was far from disgruntled when he finally emerged from the scoring trailer at Conway Farms Golf Club.
“I’m very optimistic about the direction that my game is heading,” said Mickelson, who nonetheless will not play again on the PGA Tour until 2016. The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola begins Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. “This offseason is going to be a little bit different for me. I have a little bit of work that I need to complete on my golf swing. I haven’t been on plane; I’ve been a little steep, and that has led to some poor ball-striking and it gets progressively worse with the longer stuff.
“However, I’m excited about where it’s gone the last couple of months and I think another 3-4 months in the offseason, I look forward to coming back ready for January. In the meantime, in the next two weeks, I’m hoping I can get it there, too. I saw glimpses.”
Mickelson’s season isn’t over. He will head to South Korea for the Presidents Cup after U.S. captain Jay Haas used one of his two captain’s pick on the member of the Hall of Fame. Mickelson has played on every Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team since 1994. Mickelson said the entire team is excited, has a good blend of youth and experience and plenty of talent and camaraderie.
“I think I’m going to be a good partner for fourballs,” he said. “I think I’ll make a lot of birdies, and having a partner to cover the mistakes that I’ve made will be nice.”
He made far more mistakes earlier in the year than he has of late, even though his scores didn’t reflect improvement.
“Each day I’ve continued to hit more and more good shots,” he said. “The divot pattern is matching what the ball is doing. I’m just hitting the shots that I’m expecting to hit more and more often.
“ … My scoring is the last thing that’ll come around. Even though the scoring may not be too noticeable, what I’m noticing is a trend up in the quality of shots that I’m hitting.”
PHOTOS: BMW Championship