4 hours ago
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It certainly seems like Phil Mickelson’s days as a contender for major championships are behind him.
The 54-year-old got off to a horrible start Thursday in the first round of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, shooting an 8-over 79 and sitting outside the top 100 as of the early afternoon.
Starting his day on the back nine with Tommy Fleetwood and Jason Day, the two-time PGA Championship winner had one birdie and four bogeys through the first half of his round, which included putting his tee shot on No. 14 into the water on one of his bogey holes.
His nadir came on the par-5 seventh hole, when he triple-bogeyed after bogeying each of the previous three holes.
A birdie on No. 8 and a par on No. 9 kept his ugly day from getting even worse.
Since his miracle run up the leaderboard in the final round of the 2023 Masters to finish tied for second, Mickelson, who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in 2022, has struggled now in nine consecutive majors.
He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and British Open in 2023, while finishing tied for 58th in the PGA Championship that year.
Mickelson missed two more major cuts last year at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open, while finishing tied for 43rd at the Masters and tied for 60th at the British Open.
He missed the cut at Augusta last month and is poised to suffer the same fate at Quail Hollow.
Mickelson’s most recent major victory came at the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, which was his first major win since the 2013 British Open.
He appeared to skip this week’s champions dinner, as he was not in a photo taken of past PGA Championship winners.
English (US)