Phil Mickelson gives Post readers an exclusive inside look at his 2005 PGA Championship win Baltusrol. As told to Mark Cannizzaro.
When I look back on my PGA Championship win in 2005, there are so many special little things — nuances on and off the golf course — I can remember being a part of that week. And I’m sure many of them will come flooding back into my mind when I return to Baltusrol this week for this PGA.
One of the critical early keys that helped me win was the pre-tournament work I did — specifically meeting Doug Steffen, the Baltusrol had pro who is in his last year now, set to retire after the PGA.
I came in with (short-game guru) Dave Pelz — we went there a couple of weeks early. We spent a couple days there, met up with Doug, and we just really hit it off. We’ve stayed in touch ever since. He’s just a big part of that club, and he really made my experience there more memorable than it would have been.
He came out with us while I practiced and he would show me little nuances of the greens — how the second green breaks a little bit more than you think; how the spot on No. 4 just over the water doesn’t break like it looks. That actually was instrumental in the final round, because the putt on No. 4, I hit it exactly where he had told me that putt goes and where that pin was, just over the water to the left.
Before the final round, we kind of chuckled at each other because other players were missing that putt, and I ended up having it and ended up making it. That gave me a little bit of a chuckle, because all that work I did going in there, seeing the course and spending time with Doug, for sure saved me at shot at least one shot … and I only won by one shot, so you can take from that what you will.
Joe’s Pizza
One of things I remember most off the golf course was going to Joe’s Pizza, which is just a few blocks away from Baltusrol. When I first got there, I asked, “Where’s the best pizza place in town?’’ Because I love the pizza in the New York/New Jersey area.
Every time I go back I still go there to Joe’s, because it’s so good. My son, Evan, loves pizza. It was his favorite then, when he was almost 2 at that time, and it still is now. Every time I go back to New Jersey I always bring it home, too. When I’m in town doing outings, I’ll have somebody go and get pizza from there if I can’t, and I make sure I bring it home to him. Here we are 11 years later, and it’s still something we do.
Pine Valley tuneup
Before I played the PGA — I used to take Wednesdays at majors and go play somewhere else more than I do now — I went to Pine Valley and played with Jerry Tarde from Golf Digest. We recently got in touch with Jerry and said, “Hey, are we going to keep the tradition?’’ So myself, Bones (Jim Mackay, his caddie) and Andrew Getson (his swing coach) are going to play with Jerry on the Wednesday before the first round at Baltusrol.
I’m really looking forward to it. The last time I played Pine Valley was that Wednesday of PGA week in 2005. Every time I walk that course, I discover or learn something architecturally. I’m looking forward to going back there. Sticking to things you’ve done before brings out positive memories. I have lots of little triggers like that, things that trigger positive memories.
Critical equipment decision
On the golf course, what was most memorable about the week was, on Sunday, Bones and I were in between clubs. We had 15 clubs for the week, and we always had to take one out. And we decided on Sunday we were going to take out the 3-iron. This was all dependent on the wind.
No. 16 was downwind on Sunday, and I wasn’t going to need a 3-iron there — it was most likely going to be 5-iron. So we left the 3-iron out of the bag and put in a gap wedge that I ended up making birdie on 13 with. So that was actually a critical club to have that day.
Then the storms came on Sunday while we were on 14 and play got suspended. Guys were reaching 18 with mid and short irons, and 17 (a long par-5) was even reachable for a lot of guys. But when we came back Monday morning, it was a complete opposite wind. Now 16 is into the wind, and I don’t have a 3-iron. I don’t have a club to get there. (It is against rules for players to change clubs in and out of their bag during a round).
So I tried to smoke a 4-iron on 16 and it ended up going into a bunker and buries. I end up making bogey. That shot almost cost me the championship. It cost me the lead. I was leading at the time. So that wind change almost cost me the tournament.
Rough start
I remember being a little errant with my tee shots early in the tournament. On No. 6, I hit my drive to the right and it hit some trees and I had to play down the 17th fairway. I hit a wedge over the trees onto the green about six feet from the hole, but I ended up missing the par putt.
The first six holes I was very shaky with the putter. Then on No. 7, I had about a 50-footer, and I left it six or seven feet short. That was a big putt. I ended up making it, but I made this little change in the rhythm of my stroke and I ended up giving that ball a really nice roll.
I ended up using that feel on every out thereafter, and I made everything from there. I started really putting it. It’s some of the best putting I had … ever.
Putting really was to me winning at Baltusrol, and that seventh hole on Thursday was the turning point. I remember that I hit such a weak first putt and I decided I was just going to roll the ball. That was the trigger in my head. I’m just going to get that ball tracking.
On Friday, late in the day, I had about a 25-footer across the green on No. 8 and just tracked it right in there, and on No. 9 I had a four-footer downhill — it was fast and it had a little bit of break to it, and it was for par to keep that whole momentum of the round and the lead through 36 holes. I did the same thing — I just rolled it right on in.
I played very well for most of the week. I had the 36-hole lead. But I was playing well and making a ton of birdies because I was making a lot of putts. I also made a lot of mistakes.
When I made the turn in the second round, after eagling 18 (my ninth hole that day), I was 5-under for the day. Then I come out and I double-bogey No. 1 and just made a bunch of big mistakes that I had to overcome that were challenging.
When I birdied No. 4, I had a multiple-shot lead and then I followed that up with a couple of bogeys and then everyone gets back in it.
Finishing it off
I was not necessarily affected by the Monday finish. When you’re trying to win a major championship, it really doesn’t matter when it finishes.
When I got to 18 on Monday, I was tied for the lead, but nobody birdied ahead of me. Thomas Bjorn and Steve Elkington had opportunities. I had lipped out a birdie putt on 17 that I thought I needed to be able to win outright. But when no one birdied 18 ahead of me, I knew had a chance to birdie it to win.
I was paired with Davis Love III and he didn’t play well in the last round, but he hung in there after a poor start and got back into it and had a chance. It was a good pairing for me. I always liked playing with Davis. We’ve always had a good relationship and had a bunch of good golf together.
When I was in the 18th fairway, I wanted to find the plaque there for the 1-iron Jack Nicklaus famously hit to the green on his way to winning the 1967 U.S. Open. And, when I stood in the 18th fairway on Monday, knowing I needed birdie to win, I wanted to tap the plaque with my club. Having the chance to just get a little bit of good karma from him was unique. He’s owned that place, owned Baltusrol over the years (Nicklaus won the 1967 and 1980 U.S. Open there).
I think little things like that keep you relaxed, they take away some of the stress, some of the pressure.
On the approach shot to 18, I thought I had hit the green I hit such a good shot. The wind pushed it a little. I knew it was a good spot, but we still need a decent lie in the rough. I had a good enough lie.
It wasn’t a hard chip, because that the pin was on a little high spot and there was a hollow. If the ball came out low and dead, it was going to hit the down spot and hopefully chase up toward the pin. If I hit it a little bit further, it would hit into the hill and kind of kill it.
I felt like I had a big area to hit it. If it was crowned, if I come up short, it stays 25 feet short, and if I hit it too far it goes 25 feet long. It was the bowl effect.
As I stood over that chip, all that was running through my head was all of the chipping I used to do at home when I was a kid. My dad (Phil Sr.) had built a hole in our yard, and I used to hang out there for hours practicing my chipping. So that’s exactly what was in my head, all the chipping I did at home when I was a kid.
I kept thinking to myself: “I’ve done this ever since I was a kid. Here’s my chance now. This is my opportunity put all that chipping to work.’’
I love to practice chipping. I still do it. I do it at home (in California), at night after dinner. That’s my favorite thing to go out to chip and putt. It’s so calming. Sometimes the kids join me. It’s not work. It’s fun for me.
When I hit the chip to three feet, I knew I had won, because I had been doing a three-foot drill, making 100 putts in a row in practice. As I stood over the putt, the only thing I had in my head was 88. The putt before was 87 and the putt to win was 88. It was just a number in my head — like I was doing the drill. So in my head, I had made 87 putts in a row. This was just No. 88. I was making 100 in a row (in practice) all week.
When the putt went in, the thing I remember most was Evan running around the green. He just ran around the green with all the policemen and he wouldn’t stop.
Validating Masters win
The PGA was huge for me because it was important to get that second major to validate what I had been saying, in that once I win a major I’ll win multiple more. When I won the Masters the year before, I said I it wasn’t my goal to win one major championship, that I wanted to multiple majors. So it was important to get that one. Plus, after you win a major, any year is a letdown if you don’t win a major.
That PGA was the year’s final major and it just completed the year for me. After I won the Masters, I really started playing the majors more effectively. I had opportunities to win the U.S. Open, I was leading with a couple holes to play (at Shinnecock in 2004). I missed the playoff by a shot at Troon in ’04 (at the British Open). And that same year, I had to birdie the last hole at Whistling Straits to get into a playoff (in the PGA) and I didn’t do it.
That Masters win got me playing my best golf in the majors, but I hadn’t win another major until that PGA, so that was an important one.
Return to Balty
At Augusta (where Mickelson has won three Masters), we get to relive our past championships every year because the tournament is played at the same place every year. Coming back to Baltusrol will be different. Baltusrol has been very nice to me. They gave me an honorary membership, and I would say once a year I go back, playing a round, doing an outing. This will be the first time I get to experience and relive that win in 2005.
I am going to have to play Baltusrol differently this year than I did back then. I have to play it shorter off the tee and straighter and then more aggressive into the greens. A lot of times before, I couldn’t be aggressive into the greens because I was in trouble. But I could get away with that because my length off the tee was more of an advantage than it is now.
Now I have to be more conservative off the tee so I can then be more aggressive into the greens. You have to adapt as a player. During my 30s, length was key for me and there wasn’t as much rough as there is today and I was pretty wild. One of the things I’ve had to do as a player is adapt and become more consistent off the tee, and I’m in the process of that right now.
My anticipation of playing Baltusrol this time around is going to be much more methodical. I can’t overpower a golf course like Bubba Watson or Dustin Johnson. I’m going to give up strokes off the tee to them. Dustin gains 2 ¹/₂ strokes on the field. So I have to make up three shots elsewhere — chipping, putting, iron shots, whatever.