SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s still only Friday but could the stars be aligning for a Phil Mickelson-Arizona State weekend?
Let’s set the stage.
ASU is hosting the NCAA Championships this week in Scottsdale. Grayhawk Golf Club is home to 24 women’s teams this week, then 30 men’s teams next week. ASU is one of five schools to have a men’s and women’s team represented here.
It’s worth noting that ASU is also the only team ever to claim both NCAA titles in the same year. The Sun Devils did that in 1990.
Grayhawk, hosting the first of three straight NCAAs, is also home to Phil’s Grill, a restaurant in the clubhouse dedicated to Mickelson and his many golf accomplishments.
There is framed art of Lefty sporting the green jacket after winning the Masters. There are signed flags, magazine covers and commemorative plaques.
There’s also a framed flag and photo from Mickelson’s win in the 2005 PGA Championship, which he won at Baltrusrol.
That PGA is among the five majors and 44 wins Mickelson has piled up over the years. On the flip side, he hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since August, a span of 16 starts, his last top-10 at a major was nearly five years ago at the 2016 British Open, and he finished 69th at the Wells Fargo Championship after holding the first-round lead two weeks ago.
He opened this year’s PGA with a 70, then backed that up with a 69 on Friday to take the clubhouse lead and fans were buzzing about Lefty making a weekend charge.
With ASU’s golf teams looking for another double-dip, attempting to do so at Grayhawk of all places, and with Mickelson making headlines in a major, it’s shaping up to potentially be a heck of a weekend for the Sun Devils.
