Phil Mickelson once admitted a lot of players would disagree with what he thinks is the ‘hardest’ shot at The Masters each year

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While Phil Mickelson is well into the twilight of his career at the higher levels, his enviable Masters record makes him a name to look out for every time the world’s best take the turning to head down Magnolia Lane.

Just three players have won more Masters titles than Phil Mickelson. Lefty has had his green jacket placed upon him on three occasions, with only Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer enjoying more success at Augusta National.

Mickelson has the same number of top five finishes at Augusta as Woods, while he is only three behind Nicklaus. Meanwhile, the 54-year-old made a real statement by finishing second to Jon Rahm back in 2023 on his first appearance at the event since joining LIV Golf.

So there are not many better players to listen to when it comes to finding out how exactly to tackle Augusta.

Phil Mickelson suggested the hardest shot he faces at The Masters each year

The Masters is unique for being the one major which is played at the same course each year. So mastering Augusta is a skill which can stand a player in good stead for almost of the entirety of a career.

It is perhaps the reason that the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer and Bubba Watson have won 10 majors between them, and all of those have come at Augusta.

Half of Mickelson’s victories have come at the first major of the year. And speaking in the days before his most recent win in 2010, Mickelson was asked if there is a particular shot which intimidates him.

“Well, there’s a lot of them, but — there’s a lot of them that would make you fearful but you can’t approach them with fear. You have to attack those particular shots. Doesn’t mean you have to play at the pin. Doesn’t mean you have to make a dumb play. But you have to make an aggressive swing and an aggressive, confident approach to the hole and to the shot,” he said.

“For me, the hardest shot out here is 16. Now, a lot of guys would disagree with that. I understand it but for me, because I’m left-handed in my shot dispersion, but water short left and that top hill on the right is a very difficult shot for me. I have to hit a perfect shot to get it in the right section. So when the pin is to the right, it’s actually an easier hole for me because I have the entire green where I can hit it and make par; whereas, when the pin is bottom left, it’s actually a harder hole because I only have of half the green now. If I hit it on the top section, I have a 12 or 15-footer for par. That hole is the most challenging for me.”

The shot in 2010 which saw Mickelson write his name into Masters folklore

Of course, there is one shot that Mickelson’s victory in 2010 is remembered for – and that was the approach on the 13th hole on Sunday.

With his ball on the pine straw and only a small gap to get through in the trees, Mickelson decided against laying up and instead hit a perfect shot with his six iron to set up a phenomenal eagle opportunity.

History sometimes forgets that Mickelson actually missed the putt, but it was still the defining moment as he maintained his two shot lead over Lee Westwood.

Interestingly, Mickelson suggested after his win that the shot was a lot easier than it looked.

“Well, certainly it was critical and it was clutch and it came through at a great time, but it wasn’t anywhere near as hard as some other shots. It may have looked hard, but there was a pretty good-sized gap between those trees and a pretty good lie. It was just a six iron, a lot of green left,” he said.

“So it was — yeah, it was good and it was clutch, but there have been some more challenging ones.”

Mickelson meanwhile, would make a par on 16 that day to remain in the driving seat as his three-shot victory was confirmed just two holes later.