Medinah (United States), Aug 18 (AFP) Phil Mickelson said he narrowly avoided missing his final-round tee time for the BMW Championship at Medinah on Sunday after his hotel room was "struck by lightning".

The five-time major winner said he had to leave his clubs and clothes behind when his hotel was evacuated.

"How's this for crazy?," Mickelson wrote on Twitter. "My hotel was struck by lightning, I was on top floor, we were evacuated and the place is on fire (only thing of mine on fire this week).

"I can't get back into my room and may miss my tee time because I am without clubs and clothes."

But the popular left-hander later revealed he would be able to finish the FedEx Cup playoff event, joking his clubs were a "fire retardant".

"EMTs were awesome! I'm going to make it. Turns out my clubs acted as a fire retardant. Lucky me."

Mickelson, who tees off at 1152 Eastern time (1652 GMT), needs more than just luck on the course to reach next week's Tour Championship by finishing in the top 30 of the season's points standings.

After three rounds, the 49-year-old is tied-47th in the 69-man field on four-under for the tournament, 17 shots behind overnight leader Justin Thomas and projected 49th on the points list. (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)