Phil Mickelson says what Butch Harmon would not do with his swing which he did to Tiger Woods and Greg Norman

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Where Phil Mickelson is particularly unique in golf over the last few decades is that there is probably no player who has a wider gap between the best shots he can hit on the golf course and the worst.

Of course, Phil Mickelson is one of the all-time greats. The 54-year-old has won six majors during his career, while he spent so much of his time on tour as the world number two. He was the most consistent rival Tiger Woods had while he was at his peak.

But part of Mickelson’s charm is the quality of the shots he would produce when he found himself in trouble. He almost seemed to relish putting himself in bother so he could steal the show with a shot which almost no-one else on tour would have even considered taking on.

But obviously, he ended up in those positions because his long game could be so erratic. He was down in 40th place for fairways hit on LIV Golf this past season.

Why Butch Harmon never tried to get Phil Mickelson to copy what he had done with Tiger Woods

Mickelson appears to have spent plenty of time over the last few years working on his longevity to ensure that he remains competitive at this stage of his career. But it turns out that he has never had a coach look to change his swing.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Mickelson explained why Butch Harmon did not try what he had done previously with Tiger Woods or Greg Norman.

“No [no-one’s tried to change his golf swing]. They’d be wrong because there’s a lot of ways to swing a golf club. There’s a lot of ways to play the game and everybody’s swing is personal to the way their body works and who they are, and there’s no right or wrong way to swing a club, you just find out what’s best for you,” he said.

“So I’ve worked with Butch Harmon and he’s always had some of his other students like Greg Norman and Tiger, he’s always shortened them up. But he didn’t try to shorten me up, because he knew that’s the way I swing.”

The freedom that comes working with a player with Mickelson’s magic around the greens

Perhaps Mickelson could have had even greater success by making more significant alterations to his swing over the years. However, he has clearly done well enough to feel that it was the right decision to work with what he has.

Obviously, the quality of his short game probably freed Harmon up. Any mistakes Mickelson made off the tee could be made up for once he got a wedge in his hands.