There’s some big news this week–Phil Mickelson has officially made his Champions Tour debut! Phil became eligible when he turned 50 back in June, but decided to maintain his regular tour schedule until now. Although he has not played to the high standard he expects of himself lately, Phil has certainly been competitive on the regular tour with two top 5 finishes this season, and feels that if he can stay healthy there’s no reason he shouldn’t stick around and add a few more to the 44 tour wins he’s already racked up. Lefty is unique in that not only has he been able to maintain his distance off the tee, he’s actually hitting it longer than ever (he calls it “dropping bombs”.) Unfortunately, the additional distance has thus far not produced the result he’s been looking for, as Mickelson’s PGA Tour season ended last week with missed cut at the Northern Trust (a few too many wayward bombs and not enough makeable putts finding the bottom of the hole). The good news is that now we get to see Phil tee it up with old foes like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Freddie Couples and Retief Goosen (who can all still get it out there pretty good). And what does Phil do right out of the box at the Charles Schwab Series Tournament at Ozarks National? He fires a 61 in the first round and follows that up with a 64 in the second round for 4 shot lead. Mickelson’s presence will provide a huge boost to the Champions Tour, which already boasted a group of legendary stars including John Daly, Steve Sticker, Colin Montgomery, and of course the ageless two-time Masters champ—Bernhard Langer.
Get the course details at GolfDay.