Phil Mickelson: ‘I’m starting to play well again’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- There were no fans cheering him on, but Phil Mickelson still felt inspired to turn to his brother and remark about how much fun he was having Saturday at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Classic.

“I was 1 over through 3 and on the fourth tee I said to Tim, ‘This is so much fun,’” Mickelson said. “I'm having so much fun because I can feel my game turn around, I'm starting to play well again, I'm starting to putt well and starting to drive the ball well and it just feels good and I'm having fun. I just think the results are going to start to slowly come back.”

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The slimmed-down Mickelson is in sixth place entering the final round at TPC Southwind.

This is the highest on the leaderboard a player age 50 or over has been after 54 holes of a World Golf Championship since Miguel Angel Jimenez at the 2014 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.

He shot 66 on Saturday and sits at 7-under 203, five shots behind leader Brendon Todd. Mickelson made seven birdies Saturday.

“I've been driving the ball pretty well and been able to get aggressive with my irons,” he said.

TPC Southwind is a perfect site for him to turn things around. He finished no worse than 12th here from 2013 to 2018, including two runners-up and a third-place finish.

Mickelson, 50, has just one top-10 in 13 starts this season, a third-place finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. His only other top-25 this season was a T24 at the Travelers Championship a month ago. He ranks 103rd in the FedExCup standings.

Mickelson made the cut in his last three starts before arriving in Memphis. Next week, he returns to his home state for the PGA Championship, the first major in more than a year.

“I've had a little bit more consistency the last few weeks and this has been a good week so far,” he said. “I'm hoping to continue to build on it. It's been really fun for me to come out and play and start to play well.”