Congratulations to Phil Mickelson for winning his second green jacket in convincing style this afternoon. Jim Nantz noted that Phil has won 3 of the past 9 majors, which made me curious to look back at the major winners over the last few years and see how he’s done compared to Tiger and the others at the top of the golf world.
Here are the major winners since 2003:
The Masters
2006 – Phil Mickelson
2005 – Tiger Woods
2004 – Phil Mickelson
2003 – Mike Weir
The U.S. Open
2005 – Michael Campbell
2004 – Retief Goosen
2003 – Jim Furyk
The Open Championship
2005 – Tiger Woods
2004 – Todd Hamilton
2003 – Ben Curtis
PGA Championship
2005 – Phil Mickelson
2004 – Vijay Singh
2003 – Shaun Micheel
Though I think most would agree that Tiger has still been the dominant force in golf during this time, you’d probably pick Phil Mickelson as the top player in golf since 2003 if you were looking solely at this list. Only Phil and Tiger have won multiple majors in that time span, with Phil winning 3 and Tiger winning 2. Pretty heady stuff for someone who “couldn’t win the big one” before the 2004 Masters.
With his win at the PGA last year, Phil is also halfway to completing the 
Tiger Slam 
I figure Phil’s either the luckiest guy in the world, or some strange alien lifeform who body-snatched the real Phil’s body in order to play golf, presumably because martians (as we all know) have no athleticism or physical skill.
Phil Mickelson is Really an Alien
Phil Mickelson won the 2006 Masters. This is the same guy who went 0-for-42 before the 2004 Masters, which he also won. As Ivan Maisel of ESPN reports: “…The defining characteristics of Phil Mickelson’s victory in the 2004 Masters
Phil, You are a MORON! You are no longer my guy in any tournament!!!!!