Mickelson to make Champions Tour debut this week

August 25th, 2020 / Anthony Powter

Phil Mickelson, who turned 50 in June, will make his Champions Tour debut tonight at the Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National.

The move comes off the back of his missed cut at TPC Boston dropping the 44-time PGA Tour winner from 67th to outside the top-70 cutoff for the BMW Championship. It marks the end of a notable streak in both Mickelson’s and the PGA Tour’s history.

Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson (Credit: Callaway)

Starting in 2007 at the inception of the FedEx Cup, the five-time major winner had been the only golfer to qualify for the BMW Championship every year through 2019.

“I’m disappointed I’m not in BMW,” said Mickelson. “I feel like I’ve been playing well, and I had a really a poor start to the tournament and I would have liked to continue in the playoffs.”

Despite not advancing to the next stage on the PGA Tour, Mickelson remains upbeat with his revised schedule and wrote on Twitter: “I’m going to play the Champions event this Monday. I’ve been playing well and I want to play. I wish I was playing in Chicago next week but excited to play my first Champions event.”

The 54-hole event gets underway in Ridgedale, Missouri, with Mickelson grouped for the first two rounds alongside two-time US Open winner Retief Goosen and USA Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker.

Another former Major winner, Rich Beem, will also make his PGA Tour Champions debut at the same time. Beem has yet to decide what kind of schedule he’ll maintain as far as playing and being a commentator for the UK’s Sky Sports TV network.