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Europe did it in 2018, 2014, 2006, 2004 and 2002. And the U.S. did it 2016 and 2008. 

They won the Ryder Cup. And they won Friday. 

A tournament, as the saying goes, can’t be won on the first day — but it can certainly be lost. And two-time major championship winner and recently retired analyst Johnny Miller says the biennial event has shown it’s no exception. 

“Seems like Europe always seems to have a leg up on the camaraderie and toughness and ability to come out of the blocks. And that’s the point I was going to make the most,” Miller said Saturday on Golf Channel during their coverage of the Fortinet Championship. “It seems like whoever leads after the first day, wins the Ryder Cup. And it sort of shows the nerves.

“First day is very nervous for most players — they can hardly tee the ball up on the first tee, you know, and the heart is pounding like this. [Gestures.] So it’s really important to get off to a good first-day start. For some reason, after all those years of covering the Ryder Cup, that’s the key thing. And then of course, finishing it off is important, too. It is important to finish those off, too. It’s very exciting.”

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In a scan of the past nine Ryder Cups, going back to 2002, Miller’s sense was right: Seven times, the leader after Friday was the winner after Sunday. The exceptions were 2012 and the “Miracle at Medinah,” where Europe won Sunday singles 8.5-3.5; and 2010, where rain interrupted play at Celtic Manor. (Complete results below.) This year’s event begins Friday at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. 

“The Ryder Cup is good even when it’s not that close,” Miller said on Golf Channel. “That was the highlight — that and the U.S. Open were the highlight of my year.”

Among other topics discussed on Saturday, Miller said Phil Mickelson’s victory at this year’s PGA Championship “was one of the great wins of my lifetime in golf, no doubt about it.” Mickelson, at the age of 51, became the oldest-ever major winner.    

“Well, he’s got so much talent it’s coming out of his ears,” Miller said. “… For him to win that PGA with no top-25 finishes, out of nowhere — they say in boxing that all great fighters always have one last great fight left in them. And I think that’s basically what he did. 

“Not that I’m telling you you’re done, Phil. But at 50 years-plus, you don’t usually win on the Tour too often.”

Ryder Cup overall and first day results since 2002

2018 overall: Europe 17.5, U.S. 10.5; first day: Europe 5, U.S. 3 

2016 overall: U.S. 17, Europe 11; first day: U.S. 5. Europe 3

Features

2014 overall: Europe 16.5, U.S. 11.5; first day: Europe 5, U.S. 3 

2012 overall: Europe 14.5, U.S. 13.5; first day: U.S. 5, Europe 3

2010 overall: Europe 14.5, U.S. 13.5; session one: U.S. 2.5, Europe 1.5; session two, U.S. 3.5, Europe 2.5; rain interrupted)  

2008 overall: U.S. 16.5, Europe 11.5; first day: U.S. 5.5, Europe 2.5 

2006 overall: Europe 18.5, U.S. 9.5; first day: Europe 5, U.S. 3 

2004 overall: Europe 18.5, U.S. 9.5; first day: Europe 6.5, U.S. 1.5 

2002 overall: Europe 15.5, U.S. 12.5; first day: Europe 4.5, U.S. 2.5 

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The post Johnny Miller: This is 1 thing ‘every golfer’ should do appeared first on Golf.

I’ve been delving back into the archives of golf-swing stuff recently, and had a jolly old time doing it. Sam Snead has been my most recent focus — you can read those articles here and here — but now I’ve found myself on a Johnny Miller kick.

Countless golf fans who witnessed Miller’s prime say he was the best ball-striker they’ve ever seen, evidenced by a little-known fact that he once shot a 63 at Oakmont during the U.S. Open (yes, that was a joke, we all knew that already).

But in all seriousness, it’s easy to forget how astonishingly good peak Johnny Miller was. 18 wins and two majors in five years is a haul almost any player would be proud of.

But anyway, all this Miller appreciation sent me down an inevitable YouTube rabbit-hole where I happened upon a handy video that GOLF.com put together back in 2014. It’s a one-on-one with Miller where he describes his most important golf swing tip.

“It’s something I do on my irons, and it’s something everybody should do.”

Alright, Johnny. I’m sold. What’s the tip?

Johnny’s swing thought: Return your LEFT shoulder to where it started

Miller had a slightly weak grip and his stock shot was a fade. That’s why his most important swing thought is to set up to the ball, make a full turn and then focus on returning your left shoulder to the same place it started.

Why is this so important?

“It eliminates the left side of the golf course. No way it can go left,” Miller says.

Not returning your left shoulder “back to where it started” at address can cause all sorts of problems.

“The momentum of the backswing pulls you off the ball, which is ok, as long as you get back,” Miller says. “If I leave the shoulder back in sort of a ‘sway-and-stay,’ as I call it — it’s terrible.”

Swaying-and-staying can lead to tops, thins, chunks and hooks. But by focusing on returning your left shoulder back to where it started, you’ll keep your body turning, you’ll eliminate the left side of the course, and you’ll hit more compressed iron shots.

Want to *really* dial-in your irons? Schedule a fitting with the experts at our sister company, True Spec Golf.

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The post ‘This is a nightmare’: Reliving Phil Mickelson’s 2006 Winged Foot meltdown with those who saw it up close appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘This is a nightmare’: Reliving Phil Mickelson’s 2006 Winged Foot meltdown with those who saw it up close appeared first on Golf.

His lead was two with three holes to play — a combined 1,377 yards of iconic Winged Foot’s closing stretch. That’s all that separated 36-year-old Phil Mickelson from an elusive U.S. Open victory. It was June 18, 2006, and Lefty was closing in on his third consecutive major title. But in reality he’d been leaking oil all day.

Things didn’t improve on his next hole, the 16th. After carding his fifth bogey of the day there, Mickelson had found just two fairways in the entire final round. Then he deposited his next drive into a trash bin in the rough along the left side of the 17th fairway, prompting longtime NBC Sports play-by-play man Dan Hicks to quip, “He’s gotten it up and down from every other place this week at Winged Foot. Might as well get it from a trash can.”

The script was straight out of a horror movie — and it was playing out in real time in front of a global TV audience of millions. As Mickelson scrambled to save par on 17, ahead of him co-leader Colin Montgomerie was melting down on 18. The veteran Brit’s double-bogey implosion ended his hopes of securing the first major title of his career. Meantime, Geoff Ogilvy, a stroke behind Mickelson at the start of the day, jarred a courageous par putt on the 72nd hole to become the leader in the clubhouse at 5 over par.

Still, the stage was set for Phil. The fan favorite had rowdy New Yorkers pulling for him all week at the course in suburban Westchester County. Now he was clinging to a single-stroke lead. One last par and the coronation would be complete.

Johnny Miller, stationed in the broadcast tower with Hicks, and in full-on chatter mode with course reporter Roger Maltbie, labeled what played out over the next 20 minutes “one of the worst collapses in U.S. Open history.” It might also have been the NBC team’s finest moment, one that, 14 years later, still burns in their memory banks.

THE SCENE: On the tee of the 450-yard, par-4 18th, Mickelson stands over his ball.

Dan Hicks: I remember thinking to myself, How in the world does Phil Mickelson have a chance to win the U.S. Open with a par, after hitting just two fairways all day in the final round? There was a lot happening down the stretch. A lot of guys were still in it, and a lot of guys were melting down. We got to Phil’s tee shot at 18 just before he hit it. We were live on air with it.

Johnny Miller, from NBC’s live broadcast: “This better be a 4-wood.”

Roger Maltbie: Phil pulled a driver, which surprised me. The 18th at Winged Foot is a dogleg-left, with a huge stand of trees on the left. You have to keep the ball right-center of the fairway, which isn’t very wide. I didn’t think driver was the right play, and Johnny certainly didn’t think it was the right play.

Hicks: Phil was on an absolute roll, going for three major titles in a row. But something in the back of my mind was telling me, You tempt Winged Foot this many times without finding the fairway, you’re gonna pay the price. Of course, it wasn’t a 4-wood, and Phil bounced his drive off a hospitality tent.

Maltbie: He just flinged the thing way left. It bounded off the tent and ended up in a trampled area where the galleries had been.

Miller, on the broadcast: “I tell you what — right now, Ben Hogan has officially rolled over in his grave. I cannot believe he didn’t hit 4-wood there.”

Hicks: After the tee shot, I just tried to listen to Johnny do what I think was the best commentary of his career. Great players rise to the occasion when the moments are at their biggest. Johnny rose to the occasion down the stretch of that Open.

Miller: “It’s just a classic… you don’t release your left side. Maybe overswung a little; he’s late coming into it; he releases it probably three inches late, possibly because of nervousness and possibly from overswinging. Face is open and out it goes.”

After plonking his ball off the tent, Mickelson contemplates his second shot. A large gallery forms behind him as he eyes the row of elm trees in his line. He’s got 201 to the hole.

Maltbie: There was a huge contingent pulling for Phil all four days, and they were in a fever pitch. Let’s be honest, it’s New York. By that time of the day, people have had their share of beverages. Their man has got a chance to win the U.S. Open, and they are psyched. It was raucous.

Miller (still moaning about the drive): “I always thought precision golf was the key to winning U.S. Opens, but I guess I’m just getting old.”

Maltbie: Phil had a clean lie, and in a way I think that may have contributed to all the things that happened next. Had it been a grassy lie he probably would have had to pitch it out into the fairway. But in Phil fashion, he thought he could get the club on the back of the ball and hoist this thing up over the trees. It didn’t work.

Mickelson’s second ricochets off a tree about 60 yards in front of him and bounces back to a mere 25 yards from where he hit it.

Miller: “Wow. You see the shock on his face right now? He knows he’s hit a horrendous shot. Just a sullen look right there. Ashen look. He looks like he aged five years on that shot.”

Hicks: That shot had all the components of Phil’s personality and style of golf. It’s always all-or-nothing for Phil, and this time we got the nothing.

Maltbie: The ball came to rest on the hardpan. Now the third shot becomes a much harder decision.

As Mickelson mulls over his third shot with caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay, the beautifully grooved dynamic between Miller and Maltbie is on full display.

Miller: “So where’s he gonna hit this Roger, right over everything?”

Hicks: In my opinion, it’s the greatest tandem of 18th-tower analyst and walking broadcaster the game has ever had. Roger played the perfect foil to Johnny.

Maltbie: What is most special to me about our relationship is that he trusted me. We thought about golf in a lot of the same ways, and I think that came across. I’ll be honest with you — I miss him. That’s no knock on Paul Azinger. But Paul Azinger is Paul Azinger. He’s not Johnny Miller. It’s just a little different.

For the third shot, in which he still has tree trouble, Mickelson decides to pull 8-iron and go for the green rather than punch the ball into the fairway.

Miller: “He’s taking a chance to lose the Open outright if he doesn’t pull this off…. He could play for the playoff, you know. You don’t have to go for the gusto here.”

Mickelson’s third flies over the trees but plugs badly in the left-front greenside bunker.

Miller: “This is a nightmare right here. You couldn’t have worse decisions than he’s had on this hole, I don’t care who you are. I know you all love Phil, but come on. You just have to make par on this hole. You can hit a 2-iron or 3-iron off the tee, another long iron onto the green. Two-putt and say, ‘See you later.’ You don’t have to run down the last stretch on a white stallion. You can limp in there and say, ‘Thanks for the trophy.’”

Peculiarly, Mickelson half-smiles as he strides the fairway, en route to the green.

Hicks: The possibility had become clear that he was going to let down the New York fans again. Phil smiled, but it wasn’t the real Mickelson smile.

Miller: “I want to see the look on his face when he sees where that ball is.”

Maltbie: After he plugged it in the bunker and saw the lie, I think he kind of knew, Man, this has all gone south.

Hicks: The entire championship had come around this one green. The sound of the crowd was almost eerie. It was loud, but loud as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Fitness

Miller: “It’s a wild scene. Almost like a football game.”

Mickelson’s fourth shot, out of the bunker, rolls across the green, past the cup and into the opposite rough. To get into a playoff with Ogilvy, he’ll have to hole his chip.

Maltbie: After the bunker shot, the crowd didn’t roar — it was more like a groan, and it was loud. Those people were pulling so hard for Phil, and they knew it was over.

Mickelson’s last-gasp attempt, his fifth shot, slides past the hole, giving Ogilvy — who, with his wife, has been watching on television in the men’s locker room — the win.

Miller: “To be honest with you, one of the worst collapses in U.S. Open history, by Phil Mickelson.”

Lefty holes his comeback putt for a double-bogey 6, finishing T-2 with Monty and Jim Furyk. Fourteen years later, he has yet to win a U.S. Open.

Hicks: It all happened so quickly. The look of shock on Phil’s face told the story. This was one of those things that was going to haunt him the rest of his career.

Maltbie: Phil walked past me going to the scorer’s table. He sat in there with his wife, Amy. I’ve got my producer, Tommy Roy, in my ear: “Get an interview. Get him out of there!” Of course, I can’t go into the scorer’s room. And Phil is going through hell. Ultimately, our producers made the call to get off the air, so the broadcast was over. Two minutes later, Phil gets up out of his chair and walks out to me. “Okay, Roger,” he says. “I’ll do the interview.” There was nothing I could do.

Hicks: It was one of those moments when anything I said wasn’t going to add much to the scene. It was out — Phil had just exposed himself in front of everybody, in a very uncomfortable way. It’s almost like, “There you have it. You saw it. It was uncomfortable. But that’s that.”

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The post At long last, the Phil Mickelson-designed Mickelson National makes a breathtaking debut appeared first on Golf.

The post At long last, the Phil Mickelson-designed Mickelson National makes a breathtaking debut appeared first on Golf.

Calgary, as people all over the planet are quick to point out, is home to the Calgary Stampede. Other than the 1988 Winter Olympics (widely considered one of the best in history), the Stampede is the trademark of the town. This massive summer rodeo and western-themed festival is dubbed “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” Sadly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, that show won’t happen this July. So Calgarians, and anyone else who visits this southern Alberta city this summer, will have to revert to “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Turf.” And that would be the hot-off-the-presses Mickelson National layout that wiggles through the wind-whipped plains just west of town.

Mickelson National, designed by 44-time PGA Tour winner Phil Mickelson, has undoubtedly been the most hyped new course in Canada this year. A 13-year labor of love by owner Barry Ehlert and his Windmill Golf Group, Mickelson National is also Mickelson’s first Canadian creation. And when the door officially opens today on June 1 for the full-meal deal (some preview play on limited holes was available last year) the wait will finally be over.

It was well over a decade ago when Ehlert, whose company owns a growing collection of some of Calgary’s finest courses, got the ball rolling on his dream to build something epic; something that could host a Canadian Open. In those early days, Johnny Miller and Stephen Ames, the latter living in Calgary at the time, were enlisted. But the economic recession in 2008, most notably, put a dent in those plans. And times, as we’ve recently realized due to a global pandemic, change.

“When this vision was re-ignited, Phil Mickelson was the first name that came to my mind,” says Ehlert. Mickelson’s design portfolio remains relatively small; his most notable is probably the Lower course at the ultra-private Whisper Rock in Scottsdale. “His attention to detail, his vision, his passion for strategic architecture, for spectator sight lines, angles, shaping, and so forth, was truly impressive. He saw so many things that we didn’t see. As we walked the property with Phil for the first time, we knew very quickly that we had the right guy. And his entire team is top-notch. From a spectator’s standpoint, there really is nothing like this in Canada and we are thrilled to unveil Mickelson National this spring.”

The course is open to the public for now, but plans are that it will eventually become private as the surrounding Harmony residential development is completed. There’s no grand clubhouse (yet) — just a small trailer staffers are operating out of — but the on-course experience is the real treat. The character and charisma of Mickelson National is unveiled early and is consistent throughout. This is golf on a grand scale. Massive playing corridors, framed with man-made hills and grass-capped knolls, create a stadium-like setting on nearly every hole. The many high spots on the course also afford spectacular views of the Canadian Rockies and the cow-peppered ranchlands that roll away in the distance. An army of deep, ragged bunkers are chiseled into slopes and creep into fairways, splitting landing zones and facilitating multiple routes to the spacious, cunningly crafted green complexes. While the big bombers will love it, those who possess short game wizardry — i.e. Phil Mickelson — will also be smirking the whole way around.

Mickelson, in an interview a few years ago, said he wanted to design a versatile golf course, “one designed to provide both plenty of options for amateurs to enjoy and a strong test for the world’s best players in a PGA Tour event.”

Standout holes include the two drivable par-4s (the 7th and 16th) that epitomize Lefty’s go-for-broke mantra. The 16th, which is tucked in a ravine and possible for even an average 18-handicapper to reach, might be the spiciest creation on the course. With a thin swath of turf to play bouncy ball onto the green and a mean bunker right and deep abyss left, it’s a dodgy little thing that could easily ruin (or make) your round. The closing gambler — a par-5 with a smash-one-over-the-water option — is a fitting conclusion. 

True, the footprint here is large — a titanic earth-moving operation was necessary to build this beast — and those a little squeamish when it comes to deep pits and severe slopes will have their hands full. However, there likely won’t be a golf aficionado in Alberta who won’t be stampeding to Calgary’s newest — and, potentially, greatest — outdoor show on turf.

Mickelson National: Just the Facts

Opens: June 1, 2020
Website: mickelsonnational.com
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Architect: Phil Mickelson
Tees: 7,412/6,865/6,501/6,031/5,512/4,741
Fees: $130
Practice Areas: Under Construction
Clubhouse: Under Construction
Ownership: Windmill Golf Group

Andrew Penner is a freelance writer and photographer based in Calgary, Alberta. You can follow him on Instagram here: @andrewpennerphotography.

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