On the sixth hole of the 2016 Par 3 event at the Masters, I stood in my retro ASU shirt watching Phil walk to the green. Make it about how Phil, like Tiger and Jack and Lee and Tom and Nick and other legends may quietly understand that there may just be other reasons to enter a PGA tournament rather than winning. Make it about the fans and young players who still need him around. Try not to make it about whether or not Phil will win another regular PGA Tour event. So Mike, I very respectably ask that you rethink your column. He quietly understands that even if he and a younger player he is partnered with wont make the cut for a tournament, that younger player will always remember the time he was paired to play 36 holes with Lefty. To help with their swings on the range or course management or guiding them on how to cope with the challenges of their public and private lives. He quietly understands that he has a role as mentor to the younger players on Tour. He quietly understands that to many he may still be a draw and that his role is to commit to as many regular PGA Tour events as he is physically able. But what he also quietly understands is that there are still plenty of Phil fans out there who saved their money to purchase a ticket to a regular PGA Tour event just to see him play. Of course he remains fiercely competitive and even expects to win every tournament he enters. Purkey for that matter is Lefty’s quiet understanding of his role in golf and how that role has changed and matured over time. However, what may not be so evident to the average fan or even Mr. Even worse, Mike seems to go out of his way and take pleasure to highlight the obscure fact that James Hart du Preez (currently ranked 1,319 in the world) is hitting drives 80 and 90 yards passed Phil. Mike points to Phil’s recent erratic and unremarkable play, as well as his inability to no longer compete with the younger players who are dominating the Tour. That it is time for him to stroll over to the PGA Tour Champions or the TV booth. That it's time for Phil to give up on his dream of chasing another Regular PGA Tour title or even more out of reach, another major. His article suggests that it is time for Lefty to retire from the Regular PGA Tour. Mike Purkey, the respected and accomplished writer for Sports Illustrated (full disclosure I usually love 99 percent of what Mike authors) wrote a recent article about Phil that, at best, was unflattering. responds to Mike Purkey's The Case for Phil Mickelson to Step Away, With Grace, From the Regular PGA Tour Teeing it up alongside Andrew Novak on Thursday at the Pete Dye Stadium Course, it's going to be an enthralling watch to see how Du Preez tackles the layout.Have a thought or two you want to share about anything in golf? Drop us a line at C. Plenty time to make this the best year of my life to date.” My profession is cutthroat as hell, but there’s nothing I’d much rather do. Work, neutral attitude and a ton of faith are all you can control. “When you hear those stories of ‘years ago I was struggling so much I did x-y or z and look where I am now,’ I am in the middle of that struggle. However, I will always rather be the man in the arena chasing my dream. I am currently pretty much broke, 26 years old, relying heavily on my parents for financial help and feeling under massive pressure. “But I feel more grown up, learned a ton about myself and hopeful for what lies ahead. “There were some good moments on the course and some disappointments, mainly not making it to the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour school,” he wrote on his Instagram. However, the 26-year-old would fail to qualify for the final stage. Recently, Du Preez had advanced to the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School. Career wise, the South African has posted just four worldwide top-10's since turning professional in 2018, with all four appearing on the Sunshine Tour.
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