Top 10s galore and nine titles - Opta facts as Mickelson and Els reach 100 major starts
Ahead of their 100th major appearances at this week's US PGA, we look at the best Opta facts relating to Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.
Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els will each make their 100th major appearances at this week's US PGA Championship.
Two of the best players of their generation, Mickelson and Els boast nine major wins between them and will become the 13th and 14th players to record 100 starts in golf's premier events.
With help from our friends at Opta, we take a look at the best facts relating to their major participation.
PHIL MICKELSON
Phil's record at Quail Hollow.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2017
T4
T4
T11
3rd
T26
T9
2nd
T5
T12
T3
T35
T7
T5 pic.twitter.com/lN9yS3KDyf
- Mickelson made his major debut in the 1990 U.S. Open. He turned 20 during the event and was the low amateur at Medinah.
- His first major win came at the 47th time of asking, in the 2004 Masters. He went on to win at Augusta again in 2006 and 2010, in between a US PGA Championship victory in 2005 and an Open Championship triumph in 2013.
- The only major Mickelson has yet to win is the U.S. Open. He has famously finished as runner-up in the tournament on six occasions.
- He holds the record for the most major victories by a left-hander, with five. Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson is the only other left-handed player to have won more than one major.
- Mickelson has made the cut in 87 of his 99 major appearances to date and Tiger Woods (14) is the only active golfer who can top his tally of five major wins.
- Since 1993, there have only been two calendar years in which Mickelson has failed to record a top-10 finish at a major. Both years ended in 7 (1997 and 2007) and he has yet to manage a top 10 in a major this year.
ERNIE ELS
- Els' major bow came at the 1989 Open Championship, where he missed the cut as a 19-year-old amateur.
- He is just the second South African to play in 100 majors after Gary Player, who made 150 appearances, a tally topped only by Jack Nicklaus (164).
Me and @garyplayer at last night’s AGW dinner @TheOpen @RoyalBirkdale. Always entertaining! pic.twitter.com/OCv5He6tqm
— Ernie Els (@TheBig_Easy) July 19, 2017
- Whereas it took Mickelson 47 attempts to win a major, Els lifted his first major trophy at the eighth time of asking, at the 1994 U.S. Open.
- Els won the U.S. Open again in 1997, before twice claiming victory in The Open, in 2002 and 2012.
- He has 35 top-10s in majors, three fewer than Mickelson's 38. Els has made 78 cuts in 99 starts.
- Between 2000 and 2004, Els made the top 10 in 14 of his 20 major appearances. However, he has managed the feat in only one of his last 17 outings - at the 2014 US PGA.
