"I will win that fight": Phil Mickelson defends comments on driving distance

Phil Mickelson has reinforced his view that if he can consistently hit it further than his PGA Tour Champions opponents, he will "win that fight."

Matt Chivers

25 Oct 2021

"I will win that fight": Phil Mickelson defends comments on driving distance — "I will win that fight": Phil Mickelson defends comments on driving…

Phil Mickelson has defended his recent comments on driving distance, adding that if he can drive it further than his PGA Tour Champions opponents, then he "will win the fight."

The six-time major champion reinforced his argument despite making two quadruple-bogeys at the same par-5 hole during the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. He went on to finish tied 47th.

Some golf fans on social media have now challenged Mickelson on his comments, questioning if driving accuracy is more important than distance based on these calamity scores. But Lefty remained stubborn in his views.

"My thinking is this. I want to win. I don’t care about any other finish. If I drive it long and am 30-50 yards past my opponent, I’m hitting a 9 or wedge to their 5 or 6," Mickelson wrote on Twitter.

RELATED: PHIL MICKELSON NOT INTERESTED IN DRIVING ACCURACY - JUST DISTANCE!

My thinking is this. I want to win. I don’t care about any other finish.If I drive it long and am 30-50 yards past my opponent, I’m hitting a 9 or wedge to their 5 or 6.Over 3 rounds I will win that fight.If I drive crooked I will lose but I’d like to be in control of the outcome
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) October 24, 2021

"Over 3 rounds I will win that fight. If I drive crooked I will lose but I’d like to be in control of the outcome."

Before the tournament began, the 51-year-old said that he "would be tough to beat" if he consistently had a wedge into each hole, regardless of where his ball finished from off the tee box.

Mickelson said himself that he was a "really good wedge player", which is hard to disagree with. In this way, hitting tee shots as far as possible will play to his strengths.

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You could say that his current record on the PGA Tour Champions vindicates his attitude towards his long game. In just five starts on the over-50's tour, Mickelson has three wins.

Mickelson was ranked 81st in driving accuracy when he won the Constellation Furyk and Friends earlier this month, which would suggest he played a lot of approach shots from the rough.