Kevin Kisner has opened up on what the experience of being paired with Phil Mickelson at the Presidents Cup was like, as he revealed what the six-time major champion decided to do while Kisner prepared to hit the opening tee shot in their first match.
Mickelson had played in every single edition of the Presidents Cup leading into the 2017 event at Liberty National. Meanwhile, Kisner was making his debut in a team event for USA.
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So it made some sense that Steve Stricker put the pair together for the opening session in New York. It fell to Kisner to hit the first tee shot of the match.
Unfortunately, when Kisner needed some encouragement from his partner, he realised that Mickelson was nowhere to be seen.
Speaking on the We Need A Fourth podcast, Kisner revealed what the veteran was up to while he prepared to get their match with Jason Day and Marc Leishman underway.
“The most nervous I ever was and I had to hit the shot was the first hole of the Presidents Cup. My first team event was in New York, at Liberty National, 2017. And they paired me with Phil Mickelson who obviously has played in every cup for 20 years. We get to the first hole and it’s 30 miles an hour, straight downhill, water left, out of bounds right. It’s alternate shot so I’m the one teeing off and I’m basically s——g my pants. I turn around to look for Phil for words of assurance. ‘Hey man, I need some help’. And I look up and he’s in the stands with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush taking selfies. I told my caddie, ‘dude, we’re on two different wavelengths right here. I don’t know how I’m physically going to do this and he’s there partying with the Presidents’,” he said.
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“I swung and when I hit it, I still don’t even remember making contact. But I looked up and the ball’s going straight down the middle. And I said, ‘dear lord, how did I do that?’ And he doesn’t even catch up until 50 yards off the tee. He puts his arm around me and goes, ‘how did we do, partner?’ I go, ‘you weren’t even watching? I’m over here dying’. He’s like, ‘it doesn’t matter, we’ll get them. It doesn’t matter if we lose the first hole, we’ll beat them’. He’s the most positive guy I’ve ever met.”
Mickelson is certainly a divisive figure among fans. While at the peak of his powers however, he seemed to be one of the most popular players in the game.
And it seems that Kisner could not speak high enough about his abilities on the golf course. They went unbeaten during their three matches together, winning twice. Neither man lost in the singles either as Team USA won 19-11.
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Kisner went on to tell an amazing story about how Mickelson reacted after hitting a shot that only he was probably capable of.
“You wouldn’t want anybody else. It’s amazing. Him and I are so different on a human level. But to have him on your side is fascinating. I could go on for days with stories of what he said during that match,” he said.
“The third hole is blowing 50 straight into the face, long par four. I hit a tee shot. He’s got 230 yards into this par four, the pin’s just over a bunker, it’s blowing 30 in our face. And he hits this iron shot, it looks like god hit it himself. It never leaves the flag, towering two-iron straight at the flag, lands a foot over the bunker and goes to three feet. And I don’t even think anything, I was just in awe of the shot. I just start walking. And he goes, ‘hey partner’, and I turn around and he goes, ‘I made that look a lot easier than it was’.”
That would prove to be Mickelson’s final playing appearance in the Presidents Cup. He was a part of the team that travelled to France for the Ryder Cup the following year – though the less said about that, the better perhaps.
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There is now a huge question mark hanging over whether Mickelson will ever return to the Presidents Cup fold as a captain.
Obviously, the event is run by the PGA Tour, so it looks considerably less likely than a Ryder Cup captaincy – which already seems extremely improbable.
