Phil Mickelson comes up short at Fortinet Championship

NAPA, Calif. – There will be no exclamation point for Phil Mickelson’s exceptional 2021.

The Hall of Fame lefthander, who in May won the PGA Championship at Kiawah to become the oldest player to win a major, was just four shots off the lead going into Sunday but fell back with a final-round 75 to finish a dozen shots back at 7 under par.

He declined to speak after his round.

Mickelson has 14 career TOUR wins in California, tied with Tiger Woods for most since 1983, and will remain at that number for now. Although he made 123 feet, 8 inches of putts with his new grip extension and arm-lock grip on Saturday, the magic wasn’t there Sunday. He took 32 putts and ranked last in Strokes Gained: Putting for the day among those who made the cut.

Although this week’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits will mark the first U.S. Ryder Cup side he hasn’t made as a player since 1993, Mickelson will still be there as one of U.S. Captain Steve Stricker’s Vice Captains. Mickelson planned to fly home to San Diego, spend a night in his own bed, then depart with wife Amy for Wisconsin as the U.S. tries to win back the Cup.

“Captain Stricker’s done a great job of being very thorough,” Mickelson said earlier this week.

Playing wise, he added, he plans to take most of the next three months off, except for the Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS presented by Circle K, a new PGA TOUR Champions event hosted by Jim Furyk at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida, Oct. 8-10.

“So this will be my last regular TOUR event this year and then I'll play Timuquana and I may play a couple more and I may not, we'll see how I feel,” Mickelson said. “I wanted to help out Jimmy and he's got his first event this year and I just wanted to support him, he's a good man.”