Phil Mickelson nearly missed tee time due to lightning strike at BMW Championship
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MEDINAH, Ill. – In the end, Phil Mickelson made it to the BMW Championship on time.
That was in doubt early Sunday morning after a lightning storm hit Mickelson’s hotel near Medinah Country Club. Mickelson -- who had a room on the top floor -- and the other hotel guests were evacuated. Mickelson tweeted that he may miss his tee time “because I am without clubs and clothes.”
But the hotel eventually was re-opened, allowing Mickelson to return to his room.
“Kind of a funny deal,” Mickelson said after shooting a 1-under 71 that left him at 5 under for the week and tied for 48th. “The building got struck by lightning right above me and blew out a brick chimney and caught fire a little bit.
“There were 10 fire trucks. I got in my car and left and couldn’t get back. The roads were closed and the hotel was closed.
“But things cleared up pretty quickly. I was able to get back in and get my stuff.”
Asked if, in retrospect, he should’ve thought to take his clubs with him when he left the hotel, Mickelson replied, “No, I was just thinking I’ll be in San Diego (his hometown) a little earlier than I expected.”
Mickelson, who had a 10:52 a.m. local tee time, said he had about a half-hour to warm up.
“It all worked out great – except my score,” he said.
The 49-year-old Mickelson failed to make the top 30 in FedExCup points who advanced to next week’s TOUR Championship, thus ending his season that included his 44th career PGA TOUR victory in February at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Since then, it’s been a struggle. In his 16 starts after Pebble Beach, Mickelson failed to produce a top-10 finish while missing the cut seven times.
He’ll now take a few weeks to decompress before starting a Fall schedule that includes at least two events (the Safeway Open and THE CJ CUP @NINE BRIDGES) and possibly more if he thinks it will enhance his chances of making the U.S. Team as one of Tiger Woods’ captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup.
“If I play well, I might try to add a couple (of starts) in Asia to try to warrant a pick,” Mickelson said. “If I’m not playing well, I probably won’t.”
For now, he’s just fried – much like the hotel he was staying in this week.
“I’ve had a rough four, five months. Probably the worst four, five months stretch of my career,” Mickelson said. “… I played very horrible golf. I’m looking forward to getting back in it, but I need a break.”