NORTON, Mass. — Phil Mickelson played hide and seek with Deutsche Bank Championship fans, many of whom eagerly awaited his appearance on the driving range before Thursday’s pro-am and walked away disappointed when the 2007 winner of the TPC Boston event went straight to the first tee.
Phil Mickelson doesn’t have ‘high expectations’ for ‘crapshoot’ game at Deutsche Bank Championship
Phil Mickelson says his game will be ‘hit or miss’ this week at TPC Boston.
Ross Kinnaird
The five-time major champion, who last week was frustrated by his game and unsure whether he would even make it to TPC Boston for the second of four FedEx Cup playoff contests, eschewed practice altogether and said he had little idea what to expect from himself once the festivities get under way for real on Friday.
If Phil Mickelson's bag and caddy Jim "Bones" Mackay are @DBChampionship can Lefty be far behind? pic.twitter.com/KzmalbAGLe
— Emily Kay (@golfexaminer) August 28, 2014 “I’m going to do the best I can. I don’t have high expectations,” Mickelson, unhappy with the 2014 schedule of four straight playoff games without a break ahead of the Ryder Cup, told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “My game, I don’t know, it’ll be kind of a crap shoot; it’ll be hit or miss.”
The winner of 42 PGA Tour events missed the 54-hole cut Saturday at The Barclays and considered opting out of this week’s match. Since he’s ranked 57th in FEC points, truancy would likely have meant he would not qualify for next week’s BMW Championship, open to the top 70 survivors of the DBC.
Deutsche Bank Championship
Mickelson, however, believed it was important to support the playoffs, so he said he would give it a go starting on the first tee at 12:52 p.m. ET on Friday.
“The tour does not own their four or five largest revenue-producing events. We don’t own the majors or the Ryder Cup,” Mickelson told the Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson. “The FedEx Cup is really our flagship event. As a player that has received so much from the PGA Tour, there’s an obligation there to support the FedEx Cup. So I want to play and I want to be there.”
Of course, if he plays as he has for most of the season — save for his runner-up finish to Rory McIlroy at the PGA Championship — Lefty is likely to be back home in California before Monday’s Labor Day finale. But that won’t be before he puts on the type of show that has earned him the “Phil the Thrill” nickname.
“I’m going to hit driver almost every hole,” he said to Lewis. “I’m either going to go really low or I’m going to miss the cut.”
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