Phil Mickelson believes he 'doesn't deserve' a Presidents Cup spot
Phil Mickelson believes that even if he wins on Tour this week he still doesn't deserve a captains pick for the Presidents Cup.
It's been a challenging year for Mickelson to say the least. He may have won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am back in February, but since then, Mickelson has failed to break the top 10 in a single tournament.
Mickelson has represented his country in every Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup since 1994 (24 team competitions), an unbelievable run that sadly will come to an end as the USA take on the Rest of the World in Melbourne in December.
The 49-year-old confessed that he doesn't deserve a spot on Tiger Woods' team, even if he wins the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai this week.
"So I’ve played terribly this year, and even if I were to win this week, I do not deserve or warrant a pick for the Presidents Cup," said Mickelson, speaking to the media in China. "There’s much better players who have played better throughout the year, and so I won’t be on the team this year. But I intend to come back strong, play well and get back on the Ryder Cup team next year."
Mickelson had vented a similar opinion during the PGA Tour's first event of its Asian swing at the CJ Cup in South Korea and it seems his stance is still the same.
"Even if I were to win, I have not done enough to warrant a pick," Mickelson said prior to the CJ Cup, where he finished T31. "I’m not asking for one, I don’t expect one. I think there’s a lot better options for the U.S. side."
Mickelson has been on a physical journey over the last year, as he wasn't happy with his weight, but he told the media on Wednesday that it's the mental side of his game that's holding him back at the moment.
"I don’t really want to go into details; I just haven’t played well," he said. "Just had a lot of stuff going on, and I just haven’t been really focused and into the mental side. I haven’t seen good clear pictures. I haven’t been as committed and as connected to the target. I just haven’t been mentally as sharp the last six, eight months."
