Phil Mickelson was the next big name after Tiger Woods during the early 2000s. Yet a series of events, starting with his comments about Saudi money and, more recently, the news about misconduct with female staff at The Farms Golf Club, led to his downfall. Today, golf writer Alan Schipnuk says that he is a man without a country. Many more players, analysts, and fans believe Lefty has lost his legacy. However, a few, like veteran coach Butch Harmon, still remember his good side.
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“The player that I worked with that was the most generous was Phil [Mickelson]. Obviously, there are different sides of Phil. I’ve seen the good side of Phil. He was a very generous person. I’ll tell you an interesting story, and this goes back to your question. He never thought he could win the Players at TPC. He said, ‘My game isn’t suited for that.’ Well, we had been together for maybe only five weeks. And I think leading into that, he had finished third, second, third. And he goes on and wins the Players, if you remember,” Butch Harmon revealed on Episode 2 of The Real Deal podcast.
“So I’m getting in my car, getting ready to leave. Cell phone rings. ‘Butch, where are you?’ So I’m just in the parking lot. I’m getting ready to leave. He goes, ‘Well, come back to the clubhouse. I need to talk to you now.’ Well, that’s kind of strange. So I go back to the clubhouse, and we talk about it. He goes, ‘I never thought I’d ever win this tournament. I can’t thank you enough.’ He gave me a check for $100,000. That’s probably the most amazing thing that’s ever happened as far as advice goes. And then he won The Open again, which he really never thought he could ever win. But he was the most generous of all players.”
Harmon is right to say that everyone has seen different sides of the six-time major winner. For instance, Brandel Chamblee has consistently criticized Mickelson. Rory McIlroy even criticized him for splintering the game of golf instead of having a direct conversation with the PGA Tour.
This isn’t an isolated incident, as the veteran coach has previously praised Lefty for his generosity and kindness. During commentary on Sky Sports, Harmon had shared a similar incident from the 2010 Masters. He said that when Phil Mickelson won his third Masters, Lefty invited him to the Butler Cabin. Harmon said he had been to the Butler Cabin before, but no one he had helped win the Green Jacket had ever invited him, including Tiger Woods.
The 2010 Masters incident was more of a gesture of respect, while the one after his Players Championship win also included financial rewards for Butch Harmon. That’s because the 45-time PGA Tour winner wasn’t sure he could ever win the TPC Sawgrass event.
Lefty has admitted how challenging the course is, especially the par-3 13th at the Stadium Course. After the 2011 Players Championship, he said he tries “not to screw the player like that” when he designs courses, referring to the challenging 13th hole. Instead, he tries to be a little fair. The numbers point to the same thing. While he did win the 2007 edition, his numbers before and after that are far from those of a golfer who has completely conquered a course.
He had only one-top 20 finish since winning the 2007 Players Championship. Before that, he had four top-20 finishes in 1995, 1998, 2004, and 2006. In contrast, he missed 10 cuts while playing at TPC Sawgrass.
But Butch Harmon changed that for him in 2007. The duo started working together in April 2007, and as Harmon noted, Phil Mickelson had two T3 finishes at the Byron Nelson Championship and the Wachovia Championship before entering the Players Championship. Then, at the 2007 Players Championship, he carded rounds of 67-72-69-69 for a score of 11-under 277 to win by two strokes over Sergio Garcia.
This track record, and the fact that the American professional went on to win the Players Championship right after starting to work with Butch Harmon, makes it a very unlikely win, and the veteran coach played a significant role in it.
Speaking with ESPN in 2007, Harmon said he helped Lefty win the Players Championship by changing his mindset.
“It’s a mindset. It’s a matter of trying to get him [Phil Mickelson] to play a little more conservatively, not quite as aggressively. That may be a bigger problem than the swing,” Harmon had said.
He also advised Lefty to take half the fairway out of the picture on Sunday. Mickelson acknowledged the philosophy and said it made things a lot easier because he only had to worry about half of it. Switching to a more conservative game changed Mickelson’s natural style and made it better suited to TPC Sawgrass.
And that’s not the only event they won together. Between April 2007 and November 2015, when they split, Phil Mickelson won 12 events, including the 2010 Masters and the 2013 Open Championship, another event Lefty considered very difficult to win.
That’s also one reason the six-time major winner has shown such respect for Butch Harmon. The veteran coach has worked with several elite professionals, including Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Fred Couples, and more. Being named the most generous of these players says a lot about Phil Mickelson’s character.