What Phil Mickelson once said about Doral as a golf course ahead of the PGA Tour’s return this week

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Phil Mickelson looked to have a genuine chance of securing his second ever victory at Doral last year when LIV Golf held their Miami event on the Blue Monster.

Those who watched the final round will remember Mickelson finding himself in contention before an awful break on the seventh hole, with his approach shot hitting the flagstick and rolling back into the water.

It was obviously a freak occurrence. But Mickelson’s years of playing links golf would have probably helped him deal with the disappointment of being punished for what appeared to be a fantastic shot.

Why Phil Mickelson compared Doral with St Andrews

Mickelson certainly took his time before finding a way to master the art of playing in The Open Championship, going on to clinch the Claret Jug in 2013.

Interestingly, the six-time major champion spoke ahead of the tournament about how Doral reminded him of the greatest venue of them all.

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“What I really enjoy about playing Doral, it reminds me a little bit about St Andrews, and the reason I say St Andrews is because when you play St Andrews for the first time with a certain wind, there are bunkers that are not in play, and you’re like, why is that bunker there, and then the wind totally changes, and now it’s the exact opposite. Now the bunkers that weren’t in play are in play and the ones that you were worried about, they’re not in play at all,” he said.

“I feel like Doral, the wind changes so much that there’s times where water and bunkers are in play with one wind and totally out of play with another, and it plays so different with each given wind that it’s like a whole different golf course every time you play it.

“I think that’s what I enjoy about Doral. I’ve played here a lot over the years. I’ve only won here once, so it’s not like I play awesome at Doral, but Sergio played great here last year, and I always enjoy the challenge of what this course presents because you really don’t know how it’s going to play each day and that’s why it’s so fun to play.”

The story of Phil Mickelson’s remarkable win at Doral

One of the most impressive wins of Phil Mickelson’s career came at Doral back in 2009 as he won his first ever WGC title.

On that occasion, he went into the final round tied for the lead with Nick Watney. However, Mickelson had spent time in hospital the previous evening due to dehydration and heat exhaustion.

The lead changed hands seven times over the first 11 holes on Sunday. However, Mickelson ended up edging out Watney by one shot.

Sadly, his terrible break at last year’s LIV event largely put paid to his hopes of a first win since making the jump to the league.

Mickelson ultimately finished sixth in Miami, five shots back of eventual winner Marc Leishman. It is one of only four times that Mickelson has managed to finish inside the top six of a LIV event during his career.