Phil Mickelson Has Decided To Sit Out

Phil Mickelson has decided that he will sit out the February tournaments of Northern Trust Open at Riviera and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am because he wants to start the year at a slow pace.

The 5 time major champion said in his announcement at the website that he is going to miss the tournaments deliberately so that he can spend some quality time with his family. He said that both the two courses and tournaments are his favorites but his kids are in two different schools who have two different spring breaks and so he wants to take the time to accommodate himself to their schedule as they have been doing the same for him over the years.

He has also reported that he will start his season with the Humana Challenge which will be held in La Quinta in 22nd January. Mickelson has been a winner at Pebble Beach about four times and it was in 1998 that he won for the first time. That event was the longest tournament in golf history because of bad weather and a difficult schedule. In the final round that was played on a Monday in August, he made 67 and won by beating Tom Pernice Jr. in 2008, he won the Northern Trust Open at Riviera and also kept the title in 2009.

The struggle he faced in 2014 became his motivation for the coming season as he did not win anything in 2014. He is reported to be working out with a personal trainer every four days in a week. He says that by working out, he has got some instant results and that he feels way lighter. With more exercise, he is getting more strength as well as speed and it has been a long time that he felt this relaxed.