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Phil Mickelson takes the pin out for a bunker shot, remains world's foremost amateur physicist

May 04, 2018

When it comes to PGA Tour displays of showmanship, it will be difficult for anything to top the time Phil Mickelson had his then caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay, tend the flagstick for a 70-yard shot on the final hole of the 2011 Farmers Insurance Open. He didn't quite pull off the shot, but the theatrics alone made it one of those memorable Mickelson moments that are both entertaining and puzzling at the same time.

Fast forward to Friday when Mickelson faced a relatively straight-forward bunker shot on Quail Hollow's par-3 fourth hole during the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship and again, decided to have the pin pulled, this time by his brother and current caddie, Tim. Have a look:

OK then. . . It was a fine shot -- and Mickelson saved par -- but why pull the pin?

Maybe the world's foremost amateur physicist calculated something based on the density of the Charlotte sand. Maybe Mickelson was just bored. Or, as one of the PGA Tour Live announcers surmised, maybe he's "just showing off." Yeah, we're going with that.