Phil Mickelson: No boom to this bust

As Lefty gets set to tee of as Bethpage Black in about a half an hour for the 109th US Open, I started to think "What's the big deal about this guy?" Now I understand everyone wants him to win because his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and that is understandable, but Mickelson really isn't that good. I may not follow golf as much as the next guy, but I always know stats before I talk trash about somebody. That is what this blog is about, ragging on Phil.

This is Phil Mickelson's 17th year on the tour. In the PGA there is four majors a year, The Masters, The British Open, The PGA Championship, and of course The US Open. If you do the simple math that is 68 majors since Phil Mickelson has emerged on the tour. Now you can disregard any times he was injured or just didn't participate, which to the best of my knowledge is little to none. How many of these has he, won you ask? Three.

Three!? Tres!? Trois!? Drei!?

That is it. In 68 events, he has only managed to win three of them. So what is so great about him? Now I'm not one of the guys who criticizes everyone that isn't Tiger, but I personally don't like Phil, and these stats show that he really isn't a good golfer. I mean, look at the stats. Three divided by 68 is just over four percent. Four percent of the time Phil will win a Major. You have to wait 25 events, or six and a quarter years, to see him win a Major. Okay you say, but Majors are more difficult, what about regular events?

The PGA season consists of 48 events. Let's do the math here 48 times 17 equals 816 events since Phil "stormed" onto the tour. Now granted he didn't enter every single one, so let's say Phil has been in 750 events in his life. He has only won 36 of them. Yah, only 36 of around 750. That is just under five percent of the tournaments he has been in. So basically, twice a year Phil wins an event. That is pretty sad for someone who is supposedly one of the greatest. Some say he could be just as good as Tiger, well let's compare.

This is Tiger's fourteenth year on the tour, and he has won 14 majors. Easy enough, one major a year compared to Phil's once every six plus. Since Tiger has been on the tour there has been 672 events roughly. Looking at last year's injury plus other non entered tournaments and such, let's say he has been in 600 events. He has won 91 of them. That is around 15% of lifetime tournaments won. Three times better than Phil. And yes I will give a slight BOTD based on Tiger being the greatest all time.

So looking at the stats, it's pretty obvious that Phil isn't as good as he is cracked up to be. Yes I will give him the sympathy cheer this weekend at Bethpage Black, but let's face it, he won't win. As a matter of face, he probably won't make the cut. And even if he does win by some fluke, we won't see it again until 2015 at the British. So good luck Phil, but readers (my uncle and cousin) don't expect anything to flashy out of Lefty.