It was probably fitting that Phil Mickelson’s best finish on the PGA Tour since last June came in an event called the Career Builder Challenge at the weekend. There’s not been a lot going right for Lefty over the past few months but a share of third at La Quinta on Sunday finally gave him, well, something to build on.
It was the 45-year-old’s first competitive start since last October’s Presidents Cup match and his first podium placing since a third place finish in the FedEx St Jude Classic some eight months ago. Perhaps more importantly, it was his first outing since he parted company with long-time coach Butch Harmon and began working with the Australian, Andrew Getson during the close season. It’s been a case of so far so good. “I was concerned about, ‘is it going to come back?’ and, ‘how long is it going to take?’ and so forth,” admitted Mickelson, after a consistent week during which in leaked only three shots and didn’t spill a single stroke over his last 40 holes. “I got a pretty good glimpse that my game’s on the right path.”
This week, Mickelson is in his native San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, an event he has won three times. Rickie Fowler, fresh from winning in Abu Dhabi, is in the field, so too is the world No 2 and defending champion Jason Day, although the Australian’s participation was plunged into doubt when he withdrew from the pre-tournament Pro-Am with a virus.
Mickelson, meanwhile, seems to be in fine fettle and on one of his happy hunting grounds, the five-time major champion will be seeking his first victory since he won the 2013 Open at Muirfield. Over the course of the last two campaigns, Mickelson has recorded just four top-10s and he hadn’t had that few in a single season since 1995.
"Last week was the validation I was looking for," Mickelson added. "I just want to continue to get better as I go along.”
Despite his virus, Day expressed a nostalgic fondness for Torrey Pines, the venue where he won the 2004 Junior World Championship as a 16-year-old. “That was the first time I felt like I could turn professional and potentially get to No. 1 in the world,” said Day, who has certainly made a good fist of staying true to those words.
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