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Where in the world is Phil Mickelson? #PhilWasHere

Published

11 years ago

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Following a totally nondescript first seven months of 2014, Phil Mickelson is everywhere these days! Only most of it is figurative.

It’s been a tough week for Mickelson at The Barclays, with the 44-year-old registering a Made Cut Did Not Finish. But a pair of offline drives manufactured a social media storm.

If you haven’t noticed, Twitter has been abuzz over the last day with the hashtag #PhilWasHere. The idea here is to photoshop Mickelson swinging from a random location, whether it be Time Square, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore or even at an historical event, adding the hashtag #PhilWasHere at the end.

The strategy has already experienced massive participation, but what exactly is the impetus behind this viral sensation?

Well, as Phil Mickelson is wont to do, he hit some poor tee shots this week at the Barclays, specifically at the drivable par-four 5th hole. On Friday, Mickelson produced a massive push from the tee box, whacking his driver so far left that his ball ended up sitting on the turf of the veranda of a corporate hospitality tent.

Rather than take relief from the tent and drop the ball no closer to the hole, Mickelson elected to play his ball from the hospitality area. A thrilling decision, although his efforts ended in a bogey. Showing a sense of humor, the staff at Ridgewood Country Club commemorated the occasion by spray painting “Phil was here” on the hospitality turf.

Crazy enough? Sure. Was Mickelson finished? No.

The very next day, on the exact same hole, he scorched another drive way left, and, almost impossibly, saw his tee shot finish on the exact same turf at the exact same hospitality tent. That’s right, Phil the Thrill found the exact same corporate tent well left of the fairway in consecutive days!

Obliging the theme of insanity, Mickelson once again played from the turf, this time narrowly missing a birdie putt before settling for par. Once again, the Ridgewood staff showed its comedy chops with another spray painted sign.

And that’s when the PGA Tour stepped in.

Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on Mickelson’s penchant for finding the most ridiculous spots to swing from on a golf course, the PGA Tour posted this simple tweet.

The organization proved its wily sense of humor with the recent Jimmy Fallon exchange, and this comedic concept caught on quickly.

The PGA Tour posted more #PhilWasHere tweets, fans got wind and joined in, and the PGA Tour urged the populace to continue their participation.

Even Mickelson’s hat company has gotten into the game, offering prizes for the best #PhilWasHere submissions.

Here are some of our personal favorites (not already posted above):

Screen Shot 2014-08-24 at 5.56.42 PM Screen Shot 2014-08-24 at 5.57.52 PM Screen Shot 2014-08-24 at 5.58.31 PM Screen Shot 2014-08-24 at 5.59.09 PM Screen Shot 2014-08-24 at 6.00.23 PM

Is all of this pretty silly? Sure. But golf could use some more of this good-spirited exposure nowadays. Say what you want about his year, but Mickelson remains a huge draw.

What have we learned all of this? Aim for the grandstands, not the hole, kids! And if you want people to forget about your poor performance, cater to the ridiculous.

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Kevin's fascination with the game goes back as long as he can remember. He has written about the sport on the junior, college and professional levels and hopes to cover its proceedings in some capacity for as long as possible. His main area of expertise is the PGA Tour, which is his primary focus for GolfWRX. Kevin is currently a student at Northwestern University, but he will be out into the workforce soon enough. You can find his golf tidbits and other sports-related babble on Twitter @KevinCasey19. GolfWRX Writer of the Month: September 2014

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. leftright

    Aug 29, 2014 at 8:48 am

    If Phil was a better driver of the ball, not that he was that bad I wonder how many more tournaments he would have won. I know it has cost him a couple of US Opens but we can’t have it all. That is Phil and I think most people like him just the way he is. As a lefthander I would rather meet him than anyone else on the planet…period and that includes the other lefthander of which I would not play with if invited, let’s just say he is a politician doing a lousy job and playing way too much golf recently.

    Reply Report comment

  2. Ronald Montesano

    Aug 25, 2014 at 9:41 am

    Great job, Casey. Could lose my mind making memes like this, but it would be a great way to go nuts.

    Reply Report comment

  3. Pingback: Where In The World is Phil Mickelson? #PhilWasHere | Golf Gear Select

  4. Rich

    Aug 25, 2014 at 3:40 am

    Phil is awesome. That’s all there is to it!

    Reply Report comment

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

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Aug 4, 2025

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I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 29, 2025

By

GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

 

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BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 28, 2025

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Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

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