FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Phil Mickelson allowed himself to get distracted for a couple of days after his victory at the PGA Championship, taking some time to relish the historic achievement of becoming the oldest player to win a major.
“Because when I’m doing it, I’m not fully aware because I’m so in the moment,” Mickelson said Wednesday.
Now Lefty is trying to get his focus back on playing. Only four days after raising the Wanamaker Trophy, after not winning on the PGA Tour in more than two years, the 50-year-old Mickelson is set to tee off Thursday in the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial.
“That’s going to be the biggest challenge for me because I kind of went from keeping my mind off of all the distractions and the noise during the week of the PGA to really letting it come in the last two days, enjoy it,” he said. “And really it hit me in the last two days what just happened.”
After flying home to California following his victory Sunday at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Mickelson was up most of the night with wife Amy and got to see highlights of his victory. He spent time at home Monday and Tuesday before flying to Texas, where he played a nine-hole pro-am Wednesday morning.
Mickelson said it was now time to get off social media, get back on the practice range and “start to get my mind quiet again and get rid of the distractions and get back in the present."
Still, the two-time Colonial champion (2000 and 2008) said it never crossed his mind to skip the trip to Hogan’s Alley. This is his last scheduled tournament before his hometown U.S. Open next month at Torrey Pines, which he is now in without any need of a special exemption.
“I feel like now that I’m playing well, gosh, I want to play,” he said.
Mickelson is grouped the first two rounds with defending champion Daniel Berger and local favorite Jordan Spieth, whose six top 10s in his eight Colonials include a victory in 2016 and two runner-up finishes.
