Phil your boots

You know what I really enjoy?

A good old fashioned western. They tend to be very uncomplicated.

The good guy is always nice to kids & animals, opens doors for ladies and is just oh jolly gosh darn nice.

The baddie is always moody and huffy, only interested in himself and most of the time the money.

On Sunday at Pebble Beach that was basically what we had, Phil was Gary Cooper and Tiger was Jack Palance, not only did good triumph but the baddie was destroyed & ran out of town.

But once again it seems every paper or blog you pick up is about Tiger losing, erm NEWSFLASH Phil won, not only did he win but he won in style.

 And I must confess I am not the biggest Phil fan in the world, sorry but I am not. I used to always think it was his “have a nice day” kind of attitude, I know the Americans love it but as a Scot I have never got it.

Then this morning it dawned on me why I was not a huge fan.

Phil Mickleson’s 64 at Pebble beach was one of the best rounds of golf I have ever watched, it was a flawless round. On 18 his brain took over, 4 iron was the intelligent play and that’s where we have it.

With 40 wins on the PGA tour this might sound strange but should it not be more?

How often has Phil grasped defeat from the jaws of victory?

We have all over the years seen stunning breathtaking golf, we have also seen him play some stunningly brainless golf alongside it.

If I look at a Phil card I expect 2 Eagles, 7 birdies, 5 bogies, a double bogey and 1 par !

So why do we not see Phil play the way he played this weekend every week?

There are time I genuinely wonder if Phil wants to be out there? There’s times it looks like he would rather be anywhere else. I also question his will to win at times.

Phil is arguably the most naturally gifted golfer of the last generation but can you imagine if he had Tigers drive? Honestly just think about that for a second.

Could you imagine anyone other than Phil changing every piece of equipment in their bag a week before the Ryder Cup?

If you go back 25, 30 years ago pro’s played in virtually every tournament they could enter, they had to in order to earn a living.
These days some take 2,3 months off at a time!

Now I don’t begrudge a single penny any pro makes, the vast majority work bloody hard for it. But the sponsor and bonus pool rewards are so high some just play the minimal amount of events they need to.

I hope that last Sunday may make Phil think, I hope it might be the wee kick up the butt that makes Phil think “I still have this, I can win more!”

Because if Phil decides he is coming to the party to win, rather than be the entertaining side show, then look out.

Another green jacket may be only the start!