By Alex Myers
When Jon Rahm became World No. 1 for the first time last summer, Phil Mickelson revealed he had made a (big) winning bet with fellow PGA Tour pro Colt Knost that the young Spaniard would be a top-10 player within a year of turning pro. Turns out, he’s not the only Mickelson brother who made a prescient prediction about Rahm.

Following Rahm’s win at the 2021 U.S. Open—which also took him back to the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking—the 26-year-old told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis about the call Tim Mickelson made when the two were at Arizona State.

“You know I’m remembering this now and Tim, my coach in college, Tim Mickelson, he said years ago, ‘I believe Jon’s first major is going to be a U.S. Open,'” Rahm said. “At the time, I was like, ‘Man, there’s not a chance in this this world I would win a U.S. Open before anything else.’ And I guess he was right.”

He sure was. Those Mickelsons know a thing or two about golf, huh?

After Rahm turned pro, Tim left Arizona State to become his agent before becoming his big brother’s caddie. That’s worked out pretty well, too.

And yes, there are only four majors to choose from, but a U.S. Open probably would have been the last most people would have predicted for Rahm. In large part because many would have assumed he’d follow in Seve/Ollie/Sergio’s footsteps and win a green jacket first.

And, you know, because he has shown a tendency to lose his cool pretty quickly. Just don’t ask him about that or he’ll, well, lose his cool.

But we’re certainly seeing a more mature Rahm these days. He’s married. He has a baby (“Perspective!”). And he really did handle that whole COVID situation well despite it costing him another trophy and $1.7 million.

OK, enough about Jon, though. What other brilliant predictions do the Mickelsons have up their sleeves?

The post Jon Rahm reveals the brilliant prediction Tim Mickelson made about him in college appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
To reach that moment on Sunday at Kiawah Island, where he tearfully hugged his brother after Phil Mickelson seized the PGA Championship in a stunning victory, Tim Mickelson sacrificed more than most of us know.

He’d been a successful college golf coach, including at Arizona State, where he introduced a wildly talented young Spaniard, Jon Rahm, to America. Tim Mickelson was then set to be Rahm’s agent—a job that figured to be highly lucrative. And it no doubt has been for somebody else, with Rahm having already won 11 times between the PGA and European Tours.

Tim was set for that new chapter, until Phil called him to ask for a favour. An enormous, life-changing favour. Phil split with longtime caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay in the summer of 2017, and his choice to replace him was the only man with whom he was closer—Tim.

It was, Tim has admitted, a difficult decision. Tim was single and 40 years old, seven years younger than Phil. He wanted to have a family soon. And he was headed for a hectic, but decidedly cushier life as an agent. Now he was going to sling a bag around the world for this brother, who was most certainly past the prime of his playing career.

“The biggest thing is, it’s family,” Tim told me as the PGA Tour opened its season in 2018. “I thought it would be neat to be out here more, to spend more time with my brother. And, indirectly, I’m going to end up spending more time with everyone else in my family.”

There had been some very good days, like their first Team Mickelson victory together in the 2018 WGC-Mexico Championship, followed by a win in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2019. And there were the two wins last summer in their first two starts on PGA Tour Champions.

Life was good outside the ropes, too. Tim and his wife Maranda welcomed the birth of their daughter this past January.

But Tim has also been there through some of the worst struggles of Phil’s career, and watched and heard as others wrote him off.

All of those emotions wrapped into one gritty, grassy, wind-tattered package is what made Sunday on the Ocean Course feel so special.

“This is obviously awesome,” Tim Mickelson said. “Any win is special, but to win a major championship at this stage of his career, I definitely teared up for the first time since caddying for him four and a half years ago.”

The embrace the brothers shared on 18 was all the more notable because it didn’t appear that any other members of their family was at Kiawah, fter they’ve been so prominent at Phil’s other major wins. CBS did capture Phil speaking to his wife Amy, to whom he said, “I love you. See you tonight.” Tina Mickelson, their sister shared her joy on Twitter, while also relating an interesting dinner conversation they had.

I’m not crying. You’re crying. OK, I’m totally crying. @PhilMickelson @goodwalkspoiled pic.twitter.com/K8IR2hGjNb

— Tina Mickelson (@TinaMickelson) May 23, 2021

Last week at a family dinner:
Phil: I had a complete breakthrough/epiphany today. I will win soon.
Tim: I can attest to that. Playing best golf in a while.
Today was not as shocking as it might have seemed. @PhilMickelson @goodwalkspoiled

— Tina Mickelson (@TinaMickelson) May 24, 2021

Phil Mickelson credited Tim for his work during the week at Kiawah Island, where caddies and their players were challenged on every single shot because of the wind coming from various directions off the Atlantic Ocean. Phil had an example from the final round:

“This is an intangible that makes him relatable or understand me, get the best out of me and makes him a great caddie,” Phil said. “I’m walking off 6; I had made some uncommitted swings the first six holes. I had been striking the ball awesome the first three days. I had a wonderful warmup session, like I was ready to go, and I made some uncommitted swings the first six holes. He pulled me aside and said, ‘If you’re going to win this thing, you’re going to have to make committed golf swings.’

“It hit me in the head, I can’t make passive—I can’t control the outcome, I have to swing committed. The first one I made was the drive on 7. Good drive on 7 gave me a chance to get down by the green and make birdie. From there on, I hit a lot of really good shots because I was committed to each one.”

Tim demurred about his contributions— “He’s the one that’s executing the shots. I’m just telling him what distance I think it’s going to go’—but the comfort of his brother being at his side, truly having his back—just as Mackay did—is unmistakably critical to Phil.

“His will and desire to win now is as high as it’s ever been in my opinion,” Tim said. “Certainly, it’s probably higher than when I started caddying for him.

“He’s the same guy he was when he went to college as it relates to the enjoyment factor of playing golf and competing,” he said. “He just loves to compete. Obviously at the highest level like this is what he loves to do, but he loves doing it at home, too, even if he’s playing with 4-handicaps, 5-handicaps, whatever it is. He just loves to compete against people in golf.”

The post Tim Mickelson’s own sacrifices pay off with brother Phil’s historic win appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
It might be light and airy. It might be awkward. It might be strictly business. We know this: When Phil Mickelson and his former caddie of 25 years, Jim (Bones) Mackay, come face to face on the first tee on Sunday at TPC Southwind in Memphis, it will be fascinating theatre.

Mickelson and Mackay, who parted ways three years ago after this tournament, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, will be reunited on the golf course in a group for the first time since their breakup.

Mackay, of course, took an on-course commentating job with NBC and Golf Channel, though he has made cameo appearances of late on the bag of Matthew Fitzpatrick and now Justin Thomas, whose regular caddie,Jimmy Johnson, has been undergoing tests since becoming ill at the Memorial Tournament.

On Phil’s bag is his brother, Tim, who gave up being Jon Rahm’s agent to loop after Mackay’s departure.

At least on television, Mackay and Mickelson have crossed paths only by happenstance. Much of that might be due to Mackay working among the lead groups, of which Mickelson has not often been a part of in the last few years. The Hall of Famer has won twice since Mackay left the bag—they won 42 times and five majors together— but Mickelson has only one top-10 finish in 13 starts this season.

On the strength of a four-under-par 66 on Saturday, Mickelson moved into a tie for sixth place at seven under, five off the lead of Brandon Todd. After his second 66 of the week, Thomas is one shot ahead of Mickelson, alone in fifth.

With Mackay on his bag for two events at Muirfield Village, Fitzpatrick followed a tie for 27th in the Workday Charity Open with a solo third in the Memorial. Thomas is trying for his third win of the season.

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