[JPsuff]

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Everyone who thinks it's time to say that Phil Mickelson is simply not as good as we thought he was, raise their hands.

I've had my hand up for that one for a long time, but if I mentioned it to a group of golfers or golf fans, I was usually met with quizzical looks if not outright anger. But it's true.
No matter how badly America wants Phil to be great, he just isn't. Other than the three majors he's won - all of which seemed to have come at a time when (for whatever reason) Phil was somehow "centered" and at peace with himself and the game, what has he really done to deserve to be compared to the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus and least of all, Tiger?

What, he gave us the "Flop Shot"?

He didn't even do that. He might have made more people aware of such a technique, but I can assure you that that particular type of shot was in use long before Phil came along. I was hitting that shot thirty years ago when Phil was still in elementary school.

As far as Phil's accomplishments are concerned, sure he has those majors and he's won some other things along the way, but as much as the media and his fans have tried to paint him as some kind of rival or a force to be reckoned with, that has simply just never materialized. He occasionally shows signs of such promise, but he always manages to pop the bubble just as the public begins to get into the idea of a shootout or a real contest.
Maybe it's the fact that, as a psychology major, Phil spends too much time analyzing himself or others and not enough time on technique. Many psychology majors pursue such a course of study not so much that they can become the next Freud, but more so that they can gain some insight into their own personalities.
Or it could be that if Phil were not a professional golfer and was brought up under more challenging circumstances, he'd be just another degenerate gambler throwing good money after bad on the next "sure thing" just as he seems to bet the rent on impossible or at least unlikely shot choices during golf tournaments. Palmer was a gambler, but he knew when to fold his cards. Phil, on the other hand, has a "go-for-broke" mentality that may be entertaining - even endearing - to his fans, but has no real place in modern golf despite his alleged confidence in his choices and execution.

I like Phil as a person, I guess (as much as I can know about him from what's shown to the public), but as a golfer? I think he's just slightly above average and that's about it. He was supposed to be "The Next Nicklaus" like so many other golfers were but just as they all fell by the wayside, so has Phil fallen to the depths of mediocrity himself. His current run of ads which bring people together to discuss Phil are entertaining but also sad and more than a little telling. "People who have advice for Phil" are legion but Phil doesn't really seem all that interested in taking any of that advice. It's an admirable quality to be able to march to the beat of your own drummer, but Phil's rhythm section is marching him off a cliff and if he keeps going in the same direction in which he's traveling now, he and his merry band are going to go over that cliff and in a few more years they can run an ad inviting "People who want to know what happened to Phil" to get together and try to sort out that puzzle.


-JP