Phil Mickelson is the only American to win the Scottish Open and the British Open (Image: Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Although Phil Mickelson has had a long and successful golf career, both on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, there is a moment in 2013 that perhaps is the highlight of the American’s career
Phil Mickelson is one of the most recognizable golfers on the planet, having won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships.
The 54-year-old also won the Masters three times in 2004, 2006 and 2010, two PGA Championships (2005, 2021) and has one Open Championship to his name. Though he has departed the PGA Tour for the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf, his mark on golf itself is indelible.
That said, perhaps one of his more impressive feats came in 2013 when he became the only American to win the Scottish Open and Open Championship in the same year. He defeated Branden Grace and Henrik Stenson, respectively, en route to accomplishing the very difficult feat.
Phil Mickelson defeated Grace at the Scottish Open on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff, after the two men tied on 17 under. His win at Castle Stuart marked the first time he won an individual trophy in the UK, which was just days before the Open Championship at the time.
“This is really cool,” Mickelson shared after his win, per The Guardian. “I have been coming here for some time and had some opportunities and I almost let it slip away today. To come out on top was terrific.” Mickelson was awarded $649,420 for his win at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
It seemed as if his Scottish Open win helped propel him to an Open Championship victory. Coming into the 2013 tournament, Mickelson recorded two finishes in the top-10 in his previous 19 attempts, showing just how much trouble the then-50-year-old had experienced at the course.
With his momentum carrying over to Muirfield, Mickelson looked to break his rough streak, especially since he had been trying for about 20 years to get a win. As he geared up to take on the course, the American admitted to just letting preconceived results wash over him, removing any expectations from his mind.
In the end, that mindset worked as he played arguably one of the best rounds of his career, outplaying Stenson to become the first American to win both tournaments. “I had a lot of confidence that I had the game and I was playing well enough at the time to win The Open Championship,” Mickelson said after his win, via The Open.
“I kept trying to find a way to outsmart or outplay Muirfield, and I just gave up on that and decided to not try and overpower the golf course. I felt like I was gonna handle whatever conditions were thrown at me, no matter how difficult or challenging or fair or unfair. I felt like I was gonna be ready for it.”
Mickelson finished the tournament -3, with a lot of his play coming down to focusing on what he was doing, rather than always looking behind his shoulder at his opponents. “What I did really well was mentally not worry too much about what other guys were doing,” he added.
“Because I knew, at the end of the day, the winning score was gonna be around even par. … The course was just too testing. There would be a few guys that might be able to shoot under par, but the field wasn’t going to be able to and those few that did shoot under par eventually would come back, so I focused more on keeping my score around level.”
Even with all he had done up to that point, Mickelson couldn’t help but appreciate the round he played. “I needed to show up and play some of my best golf, and I did. I played some of the best golf of my career,” he concluded.
