The rare group Phil Mickelson joined after winning his first PGA Tour title

Follow us on Google Discover

Phil Mickelson has achieved plenty over the years, but if you go back to 1991, that might just be where his best moment on the PGA Tour happened.

Mickelson is now part of LIV Golf and often finds himself in disputes with the PGA Tour, which can make it easy to overlook how good he was back in the day.

Back then, Mickelson had already played as an amateur and people were starting to predict that a win wasn’t far off. It turned out they didn’t have to wait long.

Mickelson made quite an impression at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open, catching everyone’s attention with his performance.

How Phil Mickelson’s First PGA Tour win stood out

Some golfers go their entire careers without ever winning a PGA Tour event. That’s just the reality of the sport.

Phil Mickelson didn’t waste much time getting on the board. By 1991, he had picked up his first win at the Northern Telecom Open – a win that stands out even more because he did it as an amateur.

Mickelson was only the seventh player to win on tour as an amateur and just the second since Scott Verplank achieved it in 1985.

“This is why you practice, this is why you spend hours and hours working on your game,” he said after his victory. “It’s always nice to have it pay off with something like this.”

How Phil Mickelson reacted to his first win on the PGA Tour

Even after that early success, Mickelson kept his focus on his studies. Those who remember that time will recall how he stuck with his plans despite the attention around him.

After the win, Mickelson spoke about wanting to get back to university life and keep things normal.

“It was unbelievable to me how, as soon as the tournament was over, everybody was hurrying to catch a flight for Hawaii,” said Mickelson at the time.

“I was so drained and so tired. There was no way I would have been able to play this week. That’s why right now I don’t feel that I’m ready to turn pro and play every day, week after week.

Mickelson added: “I’m going to definitely stay in school this semester. I really like school right now, and that’s kind of the way I want to leave it. I’m trying to take it day by day.”

Mickelson ended up missing out on a $180k prize for this win but given all of his success since then – including signing a massive deal with LIV Golf – he likely doesn’t even remember what he missed out on.