A lot of things happened in golf in 2021 from a surprising major champ to a dominant force continuing to win to a new star of the TV booth emerging and an established social media star continuing to shine. And those were just a fraction of things involving one man: Phil Mickelson.
Despite having been a pro for nearly three decades, Phil the Thrill authored arguably his most eventful year of a eventful career. And as we did for Tiger Woods in 2019 and Bryson DeChambeau in 2020, we put together a list of 101 things that Mickelson was involved with throughout a dizzying 12 months. So grab some aviators and a tin of coffee as we take a look back at some most of the season's highlights for golf's reigning Content King.
1. Promised to hit a lot of bombs in 2021—and delivered.
2. Bombed out of the top 100 in the World Ranking for first time in 28 years.
3. Reminisced about his first PGA Tour win 30 years ago.
4. Shared that his head has grown a lot in that time.
5. Tweeted Ts & Ps to Tiger Woods following his car crash.
6. Bought shirt with rival Arizona logo because it was the only red shirt he could find in Tucson.
7. Wore that red shirt to honor Tiger Woods.
8. Made a 9 on the same hole two days in a row.
9. Made a hole-in-one at a corporate outing the following day.
10. Ripped the USGA over new driver length rule.
11. Ripped the USGA again by quoting "Forest Gump."
12. Ripped the PGA Tour for adopting the new USGA rule.
13. Praised the USGA for introducing the U.S. Adapative Open Championship.
14. Wished everyone a happy National Coffee Day.
15. Used National Coffee Day to hawk his own coffee line.
16. Supported John Wood's support of green-reading books.
17. Appeared in a funny Amstel Light ad about making toasts.
18. Appeared in a funny Amstel Light ad giving more advice.
19. Appeared in a funny Amstel Light ad giving away calf-shaped beer mugs.
20. Appeared in a funnier Mizzen+Main ad dancing in his boxers on a Zoom call.
21. Got ticked about an old gambling story that ran ahead of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
22. Said he probably won’t return to Detroit because of said story.
23. Won the Constellation Furyk & Friends (Yes, that’s a real tournament name).
24. Won the Charles Schwab Championship.
25. Became only the second player to win four of his first six PGA Tour Champions starts.
26. Was thanked mid-round by a fellow senior golfer despite dominating senior golfers.
27. Told a fan Kiawah’s Ocean Course “isn’t that hard.”
28. Got grabbed by a fan at Kiawah's Ocean Course walking up the 18th hole.
29. Rode around in a golf cart with the Wanamaker Trophy.
30. Was part of the greatest photo of all time.
Darren Carroll/PGA of America
31. Became a Halloween costume thanks to NFL star Josh Allen.
32. Gave Allen and the rest of the Buffalo Bills a Zoom pep talk.
33. Gave himself an incredible pep talk on the way to the course.
34. Accepted a challenge to play a Tuesday money match against Harry Higgs.
35. Live-tweeted about said Tuesday money match against Harry Higgs.
36. Got into Harry Higgs’ pockets.
37. Wished Harry Higgs a happy birthday on Twitter.
38. Promptly reminded Harry Higgs of that time he got in his pockets.
39. Messed with Bryson DeChambeau's 8-iron ahead of The Match.
40. Messed around in one of Bryson DeChambeau's swing videos.
41. Played in The Match with Tom Brady against Bryson and Aaron Rodgers.
42. Made a going-for-it-on-fourth-down crack at Aaron Rodgers.
43. Promptly lost to Aaron Rodgers and Bryson DeChambeau.
44. Liked being called “Babe” by Brady.
45. Didn't like finding out Brady calls everyone babe.
46. Gave his wife, Amy, a rhyming birthday shout-out on Twitter.
47. Celebrated Amy's birthday by drinking wine from the Wanamaker Trophy.
48. Got vaccinated for COVID.
49. Used his COVID vaccination as an excuse to catch up on some TV.
50. Made a 63-foot birdie putt at the Travelers Championship.
51. Made a 40-footer for par on the next hole.
52. Hit a driver off the deck from the trees at the Fortinet Championship.
53. Wound up making birdie on that hole, because, of course he did.
54. Said, “I don’t know,” when asked how he’d play on the eve of the Open Championship.
55. Shot 80 the following day in the first round of the Open Championship.
56. Got trash-talked by Joel Dahmen.
57. Taught Joel Dahmen a lesson.
58. Taught everyone how to trash-talk better.
59. Was congratulated by Tiger Woods.
60. Got excited about a racehorse named "Hitting Bombs."
61. Averaged 301.8 yards per drive bomb on the PGA Tour.
62. Earned more than $2.7 million in on-course PGA Tour earnings.
63. Earned more than $700,000 in on-course PGA Tour Champions earnings.
Ben Jared
64. Earned countless dollars more in Tuesday money matches.
65. Turned 51 on the eve of the U.S. Open.
66. May have partied too hard because he shot 75 at Torrey Pines the next day.
67. Didn't win the U.S. Open again.
68. Did make the cut at the U.S. Open for a 26th time in 30 tries.
69. Didn't make it to the Tour Championship.
70. Did make it to No. 11 on a list of the highest-earning athletes ever.
71. Revealed he's spent a LOT of money combatting online scam artists.
72. Attempted to teach Peter Kostis a physics lesson on Twitter.
73. Attempted to settle the "British Open" vs. "Open Championship" debate.
74. Holed this unbelievably clutch bunker shot on Sunday at Kiawah.
75. Supported the PGA Tour's ban of fans yelling "Brooksy" at Bryson.
76. Supported himself when someone called a 46-inch driver gimmicky.
77. Hit a flop shot over Steph Curry.
78. Launched an official polo.
79. Launched an official hat.
80. Sent an auspicious tweet ahead of the PGA Championship.
81. Randomly tweeted about U.S. adoption and alcohol laws.
82. Tweeted how happy he was to see Tiger swinging a golf club again.
83. Used that tweet to also motivate his longtime rival.
84. Got mocked by his sister for said tweet.
85. Went on the Monday Night Football Manningcast.
86. Needled Peyton Manning for losing two Super Bowls.
87. Roasted Eli Manning swing for being “cute."
88. Showed everyone how to strengthen their calves.
89. Was a commentator for The Match between Brooks and Bryson.
90. Incorrectly predicted Bryson DeChambeau would win The Match.
91. Got mocked by Brooks Koepka for making that prediction.
92. Correctly predicted the Bills would win big on Thanksgiving.
93. Took himself out of the running for a Ryder Cup captain’s pick.
94. Instead became a Ryder Cup vice captain.
95. Said he learned a lot being a vice captain.
96. Drank inhaled a lot of champagne as a vice captain.
Patrick Smith
97. Made one top 10 on the PGA Tour the entire season.
98. Made that one top 10 the PGA Championship.
99. Became the oldest major champ in golf history.
100. Won the $8 Million PGA Tour PIP bonus.
101. Won the PGA Championship.