Mickelson Hits Every Fairway For The First Time In 21 Years
The five-time Major winner hit every fairway in his opening 65 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am


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The five-time Major winner hit every fairway in his opening 65 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Mickelson Hits Every Fairway For The First Time In 21 Years
For the first time in over two decades, Phil Mickelson has played a round on the PGA Tour and hit every single fairway.
The five-time Major winner has never been known for his driving accuracy but it was on point during his opening round at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Lefty was playing his first round at Monterrey Peninsula Country Club, one of the three venues in use for the tournament, and that's where he hit 100% of fairways on his way to a six under par 65.
“History was made today,” Mickelson said after round one.
Related: The incredible Phil Mickelson world ranking statistic
“To the best of my knowledge, it’s taken me 27 years and a few months to hit all fairways in a single round in competition. I may have done it before, but I don’t ever recall doing it.”
Lefty doesn't recall ever doing it before, but according to the Golf Channel's stats man Justin Ray, he has.
The 48-year-old last hit every fairway in a PGA Tour round 21 years ago back at Torrey Pines in 1998.
Mickelson's former coach Butch Harmon once said, “I don’t think (Phil) knows how to spell fairway."
Well it appears he does now!
This incredible statistic bucks the trend of his 2019 season so far, which has seen him hit just 47% of fairways on average, ranking 220th on the PGA Tour.
That's down from last year where he ranked 189th with 53% of fairways hit on average.
His best year on Tour in driving accuracy was in 2001 where he averaged just under 70% of fairways hit. Apart from 2001, he hasn't ranked inside the top 120 in any season.
One aspect of his driving that has been very good this year is his distance, evidence seen at the Desert Classic where he was the longest driver of the week.
He is 5th on the PGA Tour this season in driving distance with an average of 316 yards.
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Elliott Heath is our Senior Staff Writer and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news, features, courses and travel sections as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as four Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays at West Byfleet Golf Club in Surrey, where his handicap index floats anywhere between 2-5. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max
Hybrid: TaylorMade SIM Max
Irons: Mizuno MP5 4-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
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