(Photo: Phil Mickelson on Twitter)
For many years, my favorite athlete in the world was golfer Phil Mickelson. “Lefty” was the anti-Tiger of my generation. The guy who didn’t always come up clutch in the biggest moment. The player that believed there was not a shot he couldn’t pull off–and unfortunately proved that he couldn’t pull them all off in very embarrassing ways on golf’s biggest stages. The guy who talked trash with his fellow players, put big money on practice round matches on the PGA Tour, and who signed autographs for fans for hours at a time.
By comparison, Tiger was aloof, had no real friends on the Tour, blew off fans, didn’t do rambling, humorous interviews, and seemed like an indestructible force that never blew it in the clutch. And for many of us, that made Phil the more “human” of the two–the one we could better relate to with our own blowups on the course. And last year, at the age of 50, Phil became one of the oldest major winners ever, capturing the PGA Championship after not making a cut on the Tour the entire year before that. I’m not going to lie, there were more than a few tears shed that afternoon.
It should have been an opportunity for Phil to somehow build an even greater legend and legacy. But the past 12-months have seen Phil seemingly destroy all of that goodwill–and make even his staunchest supporters, like me, questions our backing of him.
For those not familiar, Phil Mickelson has joined Greg Norman as the biggest cheerleaders for a new international professional golf tour backed with money from Saudi Arabia. Norman has been perceived as a money-hungry jerk concerned only about his own self-interests for decades, so it’s no surprise he is all-in on this idea. But Phil has always enjoyed positive support from his peers and the media that covers golf. So his support of this money-grab–from a political regime that is coming under greater scrutiny for its record on human rights–had a lot of people wondering what is going on.
Phil has had a strained relationship with the PGA Tour for some time now. He believes that players should be granted “appearance fees” to play in some tournaments, arguing that people show up to watch him or Tiger and not so much Sebastian Munoz or Kevin Na. Phil also opposes the requirement to play 18 tournaments a year in order to keep his fully-exempt status on the tour, preferring to play less–but still get paid more.
And now today, an unauthorized biography from long-time golf reporter Alan Shipnuck paints Phil in an even darker light. First, Phil admits that the Saudis are “scary (expletives)” but that his playing in and supporting this new tour is somehow going to “help grow the game”. And then, the book brings up details of how Phil managed to lose $40-million in just four years on gambling debts. Like Pete Rose, Phil owed money to some not so good people, including one that went to prison for insider trading on Wall Street. And that brings us to another Mickelson controversy that we decided to look past in the past.
By all accounts, Phil was engaging in insider trading, getting tips on stocks from companies that were about to report very bad information or losses so he could short the stocks and cash in. According to the new book, Phil used that insider trading to pay off some of his gambling debts. Things were apparently so bad at one point a couple of years ago, that Phil’s long-time caddie, Jim “Bones” McKay quit because he was owed money and Phil wasn’t paying.
Things have been so bad for Phil that he was a no-show at the Masters last month (where he is beloved, and no one would bring up his Saudi ties) and this week he is not in the field for the PGA Championship, even though he is the defending champion. Last night, the talking heads on the Golf Channel spent a full half-hour debating if Phil can rescue his reputation, return to iconic stature in the golf world, and (seriously) back out of deal with the Saudis without putting his life in danger.
If you had told me just ten years ago that Tiger Woods would be hanging out with the young guys on the tour, would be cracking jokes with the media, and would be opening up about his personal struggles with the entire world (and surviving a crash that nearly took his leg)–while Phil Mickelson would be an outcast among his fellow players, would be viewed as a villain in the eyes of the sporting press, and would be bowing out of majors to hide in shame–I would never have believed it.
Let that be a warning to all athletes, no amount of goodwill compiled over a career will buy off continued public support when you decide that taking cash from cold-blooded killers is something you want to make a priority for the twilight of your career.
