Kang in 3-way tie as field struggles at Inverness

The most famous meeting between Jordan Spieth, who reignited his career with a win at the Valero Texas Open last month, and Phil Mickelson, who just shocked the world by winning the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, happened in 2013. That’s when Spieth, still a relatively little-known talent on the world stage, shot a final-round 62 whilst paired with Mickelson in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. Duly impressed, Mickelson called U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples, who had yet to make his captain’s picks, and said, “Dude, you’ve got to pick this guy.” Couples did. “My first kind of playing-with-him encounter couldn’t have gone any better,” Spieth said. Both players will be in the field for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. As it turns out, Spieth and Mickelson go back further than 2013, all the way to one of Spieth’s prized autographs from his youth. “I actually – I still have it,” he said from Colonial. “I actually know where it is now that I mention it. I have the Sports Illustrated when he – the jump when he won the (2004) Masters, when he was in mid-air six feet off the ground, with his signature on it. “I won it in an auction at like my sister’s school when I was really young,” Spieth continued. “I must have been like 12 or 13 or 14 or something.” Even then, Spieth was a seasoned Lefty fan. It’s likely he would have known that while he, Spieth, is naturally lefthanded in everything but golf, Mickelson is naturally righthanded in everything but golf. Also, Mickelson was a towering figure in Texas golf, even if he never lived there, and Spieth, like all fans, was drawn to the best players. “I remember going out and following him because he would come to the Byron Nelson and play,” he said. “I came to the Colonial a couple times in grade school as well, and he’s always been good at this tournament.” (Mickelson won in 2000 and ’08; Spieth in 2016.) The superstar’s unpredictability was appealing, too. “Obviously, the thrill of watching his rounds of golf,” Spieth said, “where he could go shoot – he could have six birdies in a row. He could also hit a drive onto a different hole and still make birdie, and he could look like he’s – I mean, it’s Phil the Thrill, right?” As for what Mickelson just accomplished at the Ocean Course, Spieth was as amazed as anyone. “I thought it would very, very difficult,” he said. The reason, he added, was because while Mickelson had won twice on PGA TOUR Champions, he hadn’t contended on the regular TOUR for ages. “It’s just so difficult to be in contention for the first time in a while and be able to tap into that confidence that you’re supposed to be there, and you’re supposed to win,” Spieth said. The great ones, though – Jack Nicklaus at the ’86 Masters, Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters, Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship – “seem to have that one left at the end,” he added. This didn’t sound quite right, though, and he caught himself. “And I know he’ll probably tell you – maybe he thinks he’s got more than one left,” Spieth said. “I don’t think anybody will doubt him after this one, but I think it’s just wild. I think it’s incredible.”

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He has a share of the lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic after two rounds. But it how far he has come in his personal life after taking seven months to deal with depression, anxiety and alcoholism that matters most.

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