How the Phil Mickelson career timeline works

Every card here is a moment in Phil Mickelson's career: amateur wins, tour titles, majors, heartbreaks and a late move to a new league. A short hint under each card helps. You're sorting the moments by year. One sits on the timeline at the start with its year visible. Place each new card in a gap; correct guesses reveal the year, and wrong ones still put the moment in its true spot but cost one of three lives.

His career was unusually long, and close calls are scattered through it alongside the wins, so you can't sort by success alone. The hints name courses, opponents and sometimes his age, which helps more than you'd expect. Later cards stretch across a wide span with fewer landmarks, and they're the ones most often misplaced.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 26 of the 26 cards you might be dealt. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Won the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Captured the national amateur title as a college star
Won the Tucson Open while still an amateur Became a rare amateur to win a PGA Tour event
Turned professional Left college golf to join the pro tour
Won his first pro title at the Buick Invitational Broke through for a maiden professional victory near home
Broke through with a four-win Phoenix Open season Established himself among the game's elite with a big year
Lost the U.S. Open to Payne Stewart at Pinehurst Fell short as Stewart holed a long putt on the 72nd hole
Rose to world No. 2 behind Tiger Woods Settled in as the game's clear second-best player
Won again at Torrey Pines Added another San Diego title on familiar ground
Finished runner-up to David Toms at the PGA Came up one shot short in a major duel
Won his first major at the Masters with a walk-off birdie Leaped in celebration after a putt on the last dropped
Won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Captured a second major with a gutsy finish
Won a second Masters green jacket at Augusta Slipped on another green jacket
Double-bogeyed the last to lose the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Threw away a title with a wild closing hole
Won the Players Championship at Sawgrass Captured the Tour's flagship event
Won the Deutsche Bank Championship Beat Tiger Woods head-to-head for a playoff-event title
Won the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Captured a beloved Los Angeles event
Won the WGC-CA Championship at Doral Won a World Golf Championship in Florida
Won a third Masters from the pine straw at Augusta Hit a famous shot through the trees on the way to victory
Won the Open Championship at Muirfield Closed with a stunning round to win the Claret Jug
Won the Scottish Open the week before the Open Warmed up for links glory with a playoff win in Scotland
Finished U.S. Open runner-up a record sixth time at Merion Fell short again at the one major that eluded him
Won the WGC-Mexico Championship to end a long drought Captured a first title in nearly five years
Won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at forty-eight Won a favorite event on the California coast
Became the oldest major champion at the PGA at Kiawah Held off the field to make history in his fifties
Joined the LIV Golf League Left the PGA Tour for the breakaway circuit
Tied for second at the Masters at age fifty-two Shot a stunning final round to contend at Augusta again