February 16, 1988 In 1988, Phil Mickelson a the age of 17 qualified to compete at The Shearson Lehman Hutton Open in Torrey Pines, which is now known as the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson, a San Diego native, was a student at University High School at the time. There was plenty of buzz around the golfer who would be nicknamed Lefty. He was widely considered the top junior golfer. In this tournament, Mickelson was about to go up against golf’s finest like Seve Ballesteros and Hal Sutton. Jim Laslavic report.