Just ahead of The Players Championship next Monday night, 41-year-old Phil Mickelson will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. While appreciative of the honor, the four-time major winner would prefer to wait until closer to the sunset of his PGA Tour career to be inducted.
‘I wouldn’t be opposed to moving the age to 50,’ Mickelson said Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Championship, ‘because I think now with fitness being a bigger part of the Tour (and) guys’ careers going longer, I think that would probably be a better point to reflect on your career as opposed to being inducted while you’re right in the middle of it.’
Mickelson is still winning golf tournaments. He won this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in a final-round showdown with Tiger Woods. Lety also got into a three-man playoff at the Northern Trust Open and was in the hunt for a fourth Masters.
The left-hander credits his continued success and health to working with swing instructor Butch Harmon and short game coach Dave Pelz. Mickelson reiterated a common refrain: the best is yet to come.
‘I’m still looking forward to what these next five years bring, if not further,’ he said.
Optimistic in his success to come, Mickelson will use his Hall of Fame induction speech to share his passion for the sport rather than reflect on what he has already achieved.
‘It’s meant so much to me in my personal life,’ he said, ‘not just what it’s done as an occupation but the people I’ve met throughout the game, the places it has taken me and the opportunities the game has provided me.’