Phil Mickelson made his first practice loop through Muirfield on Monday, choosing to spend the past week to the north playing in, and winning, the Scottish Open. With that week of links-style prep and success behind him, you might expect him to conservatively map out Muirfield on his first pass through and do some light practice. But practice for Phil means working on his backwards lob shot, which Geoff Shackelford captured on one of the steep mounds protecting Muirfield’s 17th green:
Phil Mickelson works on backwards lob wedge during British Open practice rounds
Figjam preps his indispensable backwards shot.
Andrew Redington
In the last 24 hours, Mickelson has made news for winning his first Euro event, fumbling away the trophy which was captured perfectly in this photo, and now screwing around with his wedge at Muirfield.
As SI noted, this is one of Phil’s older tricks with his wedges, clubs he can handle better than perhaps anyone who has ever played. He is pretty unconventional and “crazy” -- for a golfer -- but putting this shot in play in an actual competitive major round is hard to imagine. Let’s hope he encounters this lie and pin placement at some point later this week.
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