A decade ago, it was a scene you would have sooner thought you would see than the Red Sox and Yankees sharing a stadium in Connecticut.
Phil Mickelson had just drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to clinch the final available Presidents Cup point available in the Friday four-ball competition at Liberty National.
The putt gave the U.S. a commanding 8-2 advantage, its largest lead after two days in the 12 Presidents Cups played. Mickelson and playing partner Kevin Kisner partook in a bizarre celebration that somewhat resembled the “Three Amigos,’’ and the U.S. players and captains surrounding the green reveled in victory.
One of them was Tiger Woods, whose toothy grin was prominent as Mickelson walked off the green. The two former rivals exchanged high-fives and then embraced.
Yes, embraced.
It was fitting that the point Mickelson had just won was the 24th of his Presidents Cup career, matching the record that Woods owns. The 2 and 1 Mickelson win with Kisner in his Saturday morning foursomes match against Jhonny Vegas and Emiliano Grillo was his 25th, which gave him the record alone.
Mickelson has been a prominent Presidents Cup presence since the competition began in 1994, having played every one of them. This week, including the 11 consecutive Ryder Cups, is the 23rd consecutive team event he has played.
When Mickelson was playing in his first Presidents Cup, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger, three of his current teammates, were 1 year old. Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka were 4, Rickie Fowler 6, Kevin Chappell 8. Dustin Johnson and Kisner were 10.
“I was 1 when he played in his first one, which is really crazy to think,’’ Thomas said. “I would love to see what kind of person he was then. I’m sure he was still the same kind of guy.’’
Mickelson, with his experience (25-16-13 record in Presidents Cups), wisdom, youthful enthusiasm and enduring skill, has become an assistant captain with clubs in his hands for these teams.
Those are the reasons it was a no-brainer that Steve Stricker chose him as one of his two picks for captain despite the fact Mickelson’s form has not been great this year (five top-10 finishes in 22 starts) and that he hasn’t won a tournament since the 2013 British Open.
“I run things by him just like I run things by our assistant captains,” Stricker said.
Two years ago, then-captain Jay Haas made Mickelson a captain’s pick and Mickelson responded by going 3-0-1 in the Americans’ 15 ½ to 14 ½ win over the Internationals in South Korea. Entering Sunday’s singles matches, Mickelson is 2-0-1 this week.
Much like Woods’ streak for most consecutive cuts made (142 from 1998-2005) stands as perhaps his most impressive feat despite being the most underrated, Mickelson’s 23 consecutive team events is similar. It illustrates how long he’s been in form with his game and how healthy he’s stayed.
“It’s one of the things I’m most proud of, to continue to be a part of this,” Mickelson said.
“That’s impressive; I don’t know if anybody will ever touch that,” Stricker said of Mickelson’s record.
“A record like that may never be touched,’’ Adam Scott said. “If you look down Phil’s record as a golfer, it’s not one of the first things that they’ll write is how many Ryder Cup teams or Presidents Cup [he’s been on], 23 in a row. But if you think about the longevity of form, then it starts becoming impressive because there won’t be that many people ever that will play that many.’’
Jason Day called it “probably one of the best accomplishments that you could probably have in your career, because it means you were consistent from 1994 all the way up to 2017.’’
“Granted, we are talking about one of the best players that ever lived, [but] that’s hard to do, be that consistent over that many years,’’ Day said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how good he is. Obviously he was in the Tiger era and I think Tiger kind of overshadows his career a little bit. If there was no Tiger Woods, I wonder how many times Phil Mickelson probably would have won?’’