Phil Mickelson missed the cut last week in the Northern Trust and didn’t qualify for the BMW Championship, the second event of the PGA Tour playoffs, so he decided to make his debut on the PGA Tour Champions having turned 50 on June 16.
All Lefty did was become the 20th player to win in first outing on the senior circuit, leading almost all the way to a four-stroke victory over Tim Petrovic in the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National Golf Club in Ridgedale, Mo.
Among those who have won in their debuts on the 50-and-over circuit were Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player of South Africa, Lanny Wadkins and Jim Furyk—who did it last month.
“It always great to win anywhere,” said Mickelson, who has won 44 times on the PGA Tour and 52 titles as a pro. “ wanted to make sure I was playing well when I played in my first one. … It was a lot of fun to play here and see all these guys again. Everybody was so accommodating to me this week.
“This was a good course for me. I got off to a great start today and played very well on the front nine, but was not so sharp on the back, where Tim played well and made it close. I did a lot of good things, but there are other things I have to work on to get ready for the U.S. Open (next month).
Mickelson took charge of the tournament by shooting a brilliant 10-under-par 61 in the first round and never gave up the lead after that and finished with a score of 61-64-66—191, 22-under.
In the final round, Lefty played the front nine in 5-under 31 with an eagle on the fifth hole, and stretched his lead to six strokes over Petrovic with his last birdie at No. 10, before coasting home with seven pars and a bogey on the 14th hole.
Petrovic finished at 64-65-66—195, while Kevin Sutherland of Sacramento and Fresno State was third at 66-68-63—197, followed by Robert Karlsson of Sweden at 66-67-65—198.
Steve Stricker carded a score of 66-66-67—199 to tie for fifth with Rocco Mediate, who wound up at 64-66-69—199, while Brandt Jobe of UCLA totaled 65-69-66—200 to tie for seventh with Jeff Maggert, who finished at 69-68-63—200, Ernie Els of South Africa, who shot 65-69-66—200, and K.J. Choi of South Korea, who came in at 64-67-69—200.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/champions/leaderboard.html
