Is Phil Mickelson The Best At Golf?

Ask anyone in the golf world who the best golfer on tour is and you will likely hear the name Phil Mickelson. With career winnings in excess of $65 million, a green jacket and an ability to make the most incredible backward shot ever, its hard to argue.

But lets not just look at earnings as an indicator of greatness. Lets examine his performance through the years. Phil has been on the tour for 2 decades now and has some impressive stats to show for it. He is currently ranked 13th in the world and with 835 points he is ranked 5th in the Fedex cup this season, which many consider to be the truest indicator of who is playing the best golf. His average score per round is an incredible 69.64! That's low enough to hurt your feelings.

Although he has suffered from injuries, he still is playing at the highest level. His best finish on the PGA TOUR in 2012 was 1st at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He ranks 22nd in scoring average on the PGA TOUR and has two top 10 finishes this season. With only six events played this year he has pursed $1,845,431.. Not too shabby!

Below is a comparison of Phil's present day stats to his early days on the PGA Tour.

1993


2012


From this data we can see an overall improvement over the past 20 years. His driving distance increased, his putting and scoring average dropped significantly and he is getting birdies and eagles more often. By far the biggest improvement has been in his earnings. From being ranked 90th in 1992 to 4th in 2011 he has seen a huge improvement, one that I'm sure he is happy about.

It is interesting to note that in 1993 his driving distance was 269.2 and he was ranked 25th. Today he hits farther at 291.8 but is only ranked 66th. This could be attributed to the rise in the level of play in the last decade, advances in equipment technology or a combination of both.

So, is Phil the greatest golfer to play the game? The short answer, perhaps. His career stats are impressive and he is one of the highest earning golfer's ever. He is currently faced with tough competition from a new generation of golfers. But if the past is any indicator of the future, we should expect to see Phil assert his dominance up and down the course. Look for him playing later this month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.