Keith Ganzenmuller attended Skidmore College 2004 in Saratoga Springs, NY where he currently resides. He does sales for an internet marketing company and freelance sports writing for a weekly Saratoga paper. Ganzenmuller 's passion is sports writing and he hopes to pursue it as a full time career. He has always been very involved in sports. A three-sport varsity athlete throughout high school, he played four years of varsity basketball at division three Skidmore College. In college, Keith conducted a sociology study in which he surveyed over 200 athletes, wrote an extensive research report and received two post graduate grants. Ganzenmuller has become an avid golfer and golf-fan over the last several years. He is determined to improve his current 8 Handicap into the low single digits. He can be reached at kgkeith@hotmail.com. Those who watched the final round of the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club witnessed an all too familiar scene: Phil Mickelson on the 18th tee in final round, needing only a par to win a golf tournament.
With an eerie similarity to Winged Foot, Mickelson pushed his tee shot to the left. He would go on to bogey the hole and, eventually, lose to Charles Howell III in a playoff.
A week earlier, Mickelson captured his 30th career PGA Tour victory in dominating fashion at Pebble Beach. With the victory, Mickelson tied Vijay Singh and Leo Diegel for 15th place all-time.
At just 36 years old, there's no reason to think Mickelson won't reach 40 career PGA Tour victories and surpass all-time greats Tom Watson and Gene Sarazen, who currently tied for 10th all-time with 39 apiece.
A golfer's place in history is ultimately determined by Major Championships. With three to his credit, Mickelson has yet to separate himself from Ernie Els or Vijay Singh.
Despite his recent U.S. Open meltdowns, Mickelson has captured a Major in each of the past three seasons. With the win at Pebble and second place finish at Riviera, Lefty appears to be in top form as the Masters approaches.
Mickelson is no rival for Tiger… So what?
The golf world was hoping that Mickelson would emerge as the rival capable of challenging Tiger Woods. When he won the Masters last year, many were referring to Phil as "golf's true number one." However, all the rivalry talk ended after the mess at Winged Foot, as Tiger went on to win the British Open and dominate the rest of the season.
It appears that no current golfer, including Mickelson, is capable of rivaling Tiger in top form. Therefore, it has been suggested by many, that today's great players, such as Mickelson, Els, and Singh are not of the same caliber as Jack Nicklaus's rivals.
Could Tiger just be that much better than Nicklaus? It's possible. Nicklaus never won the US. Open by 15 strokes or the Masters by 12. Furthermore, there is certainly more depth on today's PGA Tour than during Nicklaus' era.
Perhaps the combination of Tiger's dominance and the depth on today's PGA Tour explain why players like Mickelson, have failed to win as many Majors as the top players in Nicklaus's era.
Phil's recent performance in Majors has rivaled Tiger's
Mickelson implemented a new philosophy prior to the 2003-2004 season, under the tutelage of swing coach Rick Smith and short game guru Dave Pelz. These changes resulted in Major Championship results that rivaled Tiger's. Since the 2003-2004 season, Mickelson's has won three Majors to Tiger's four and posted six top-5's to Tiger's eight.
Many with little understanding for the game of golf will use Mickelson's second place finish at Rivera as just another reason to label his a choke-artist. Many forget that failing under pressure is an inherent part of golf.
Mickelson's collapse at Winged Foot wasn't even the worst of the tournament; Colin Montgomerie's was certainly worse. Montgomerie, who didn't even have to deal with the pressure of playing in the final group, double-bogeyed the 18th hole from the middle of the fairway with just a seven-iron. A par would have won Montgomerie the Championship, but Mickelson's final hole debacle dominated the headlines.
Mickelson will never rival Tiger. Nevertheless, he is currently the second best player in the world despite what the world rankings may say. Before he's done, Lefty will win two or three more Majors to secure his legacy as the second best golfer of the Tiger Woods era and one of the greatest in golf history.