At the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, Phil Mickelson needed an eagle on the 72nd hole to tie with Bubba Watson. He was forced to lay up on the par-5 18th and then had 72 yards to the pin. It had to go in.
He paced up to the flag and then had his caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay tend the flag as he played a wedge shot into the green. He wanted it to have two chances to go in, he thought it could possibly spin back into the cup and would have more chance of going in if the flag was out. It was quite a time-consuming performance but a possible victory was on the line. And Phil proved it wasn’t a crazy idea when he played his wedge shot to within a couple of feet of the hole. It didn’t go in though, and he just missed out.
