Dramatic Club Selection and Shot by Phil Mickelson at the Masters
Jim 'Bones' Mackay breaks down Phil Mickelson's 6-iron shot and club choice, which secured the lead at the 2010 Masters, leading to his 3rd Green Jacket.
Video Transcript
And, we're just talking about club selection, so it came down to five or six.
And, we ultimately decided that, it was gonna be a hard six iron, you know, when it became his turn to play.
So K.J.
Choi's putting out on the green in front of us, and he misses about a five or a six-footer, I think, if memory serves.
And there was a kind of a strange murmur from the patrons.
And so I turned to the cameraman behind us and I said, "You know, what gives?"
And he said, "You know, K.J.
just made six.
I think you guys are tied for the lead now."
So that was my, kind of my, my opening in the door to go back at Phil just to, to, to, you know, sometimes- guys are 80% in, sometimes they're 100% in, and I just went back at him and said, "Hey, listen, I don't know if this changes how you're thinking, but, you know, K.J.
just made six here and you're tied for the lead."
And I'll never forget what he said to me.
He said, he said, "If I'm gonna win this tournament today, at some point I'm gonna have to hit a great shot under a lot of pressure.
I'm gonna do it right now."
Oh, goodness.
And that caddy, that caddy voice in my head said, "Get out of his way."
And so, you know, you, you, you grab the, you grab the bag, you get out of his way, and he hit the six iron through the trees to four feet.
And it was, you know, in my years with him, the, the greatest shot I ever saw him hit.
And, it w- it was a, a, an amazing thing to witness.
All in all, a really good birdie, right?
Yeah.
You know, the f- The, the, the, the, the, the four-footer went four feet by- and he s- and he, and he made that one coming back.
But, yeah, it was, it, you know, I, I always thought, you know, there's so much tradition and history at Augusta National and, and if you do certain things at certain places in the golf course, they might build a little tribute to you, whether, of course, you've got the Hogan bridges and you've got some s- you, you know, some, some, monuments out there.
And I always thought that if maybe if Phil had made that eagle putt, that they might have done something there up in the trees, a- as a tribute to Phil in, in his winning his third Masters, but, couldn't get the putt to go down.
Yeah, I hate to ruin a good story there.
I mean, that's just- incredible- Yeah incredible insight.
I, I would agree with you, too.
It, in that situation, it's always so hard, too, when you're playing a shot and you can't look out in front of you and see it if a tree is in, is blocking your view.
And it always felt like to me, when Phil hit that shot, that that's what he was dealing with, is that he was, you know, having to look and really just having to trust his memory o- of, of what, what the shot was in front of him a- and having to trust, you know, just where his club face was aiming was gonna be the right place, and that's just, a lot to trust there.
Yeah, you're right.
And, and, you know, we talked a little while ago about Crenshaw being a feel player and, and certainly Phil was, was in that same vein.
And, and let's not forget, in terms of that, that, that funky visual he had on that second shot there, he also was standing on a lot of pine straw, and I was worried about him slipping.
Ah, yeah.
So, you know, 'cause he was gonna have to go at that, that iron shot pretty, pretty hard.
So, lot, lots to, lots to, to deal with on that particular shot.
But, of course, he, you know, he pulled it off in spectacular fashion.
