In the opening round of the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open, Phil Mickelson was on absolute fire and looked on pace to possibly break 60 heading into the last hole. Phil was still in prime position on the last green facing a 25-foot birdie putt which, had it dropped in, would have yielded him a 59 for the round. The putt looked like it would go in as it approached the hole, but at the last second it ended up lipping out. The collective gasp of disappointment from the gallery was almost tangible following the miss. Even though Phil didn’t join the elite group of five other PGA tour golfers to shoot a 59 in a PGA Tour event (Al Geiberger, Chip Beck, David Duval, Paul Goydos, and Stuart Appleby), he ended the day with an impressive 11-under 60, which ties the TPC Scottsdale course record.
Following the round, Mickelson expressed his thoughts on shooting a 60:
“I’m ecstatic to shoot 60, but to see the last putt lip out is crushing, because you don’t get a chance very often to shoot 59,” Mickelson said. “Six feet from the hole it was dead center, 3 feet from the hole is was dead center, 1 foot from the hole it was dead center. But it somehow just died out at the end.”
“Sixty is awesome, but there’s a big difference between a 60 and a 59,” he said. “There’s a Berlin Wall difference between 60 and 59. I’ll be thinking about that putt on the last hole for a while.”
