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 When Phil Mickelson steps out of his courtesy vehicle at the clubhouse entrance at Augusta National Golf Club for this month’s Masters, fans will be waiting for him. They’re kept a safe distance from the player, and a golfer has to make an effort to go over to them. It’s a safe bet Mickelson will make that gesture. He has done so in the past, going out of his way to mingle with fans and sign countless autographs. That’s the main reason he’s a favorite of galleries, or patrons as they’re called at Augusta. When Mickelson finishes with the people outside and walks inside the locker room, his reception might not be as warm. While he’s beloved by fans, Mickelson’s relationship with his peers has not been as welcoming and his interaction with them has often been prickly. There are definitely two opinions regarding Mickelson. Some believe he is genuine and sincere, while others think his actions are well-orchestrated. That debate will likely rage for years, but Mickelson shrugs off the negative comments. “It’s part of the deal,” Mickelson said. “There is no fighting back. I just have to take it on the chin.” The dubious accolades given to Mickelson by fellow professionals are many. Among his nicknames are “The Candidate,” because he acts like a politician running for office; “Eddie Haskell,” because his personality resembles the famous “Leave it to Beaver” character; and “FIGJAM,” an acronym for [Expletive] I’m Good, Just Ask Me. Gentleman’s Quarterly said Mickelson was one of the country’s 10 Most Hated Athletes, a list voted on by peers that included Barry Bonds and Terrell Owens. Privately, Mickelson and his wife, Amy, were reportedly hurt by the article, but publicly he was stoic when discussing it. “I don’t know, it’s part of being in the public eye,” Mickelson said. “It sucks sometimes, but I enjoy 99.9 percent of my life and my job and everything. Sometimes there’s a little thing like that that isn’t the best. But you just have to deal with it.” If Mickelson is insincere, as some professional golfers have claimed, the fans aren’t buying it. Mickelson, who lives in Rancho Santa Fe, endeared himself to San Diego fans by working on a charity for the military and their families the past two years. When Mickelson was in New Jersey for the 2005 PGA Championship, hardened East Coast galleries practically adopted him as one of their own when he told an official to wait a minute while he signed autographs for fans after his round, keeping the media waiting. Mickelson believes in signing autographs, while other players breeze through outstretched hands. “You know, I try to do the best I can. Unfortunately, I’m not able to get to everybody, but I try,” he said. “I just think it’s important from a player’s point of view to show our appreciation to the people who come out and watch and who allow us to play for the purses that we play for, or just play golf for a living. I think it’s great.” His detractors would say that Mickelson makes such claims because they’re good sound bites, and he has given his critics occasional ammunition with curious statements. When he told a group of reporters at the FBR Open in 2003 that the reason he had trouble losing weight was because he had subcutaneous fat, most replied with a blank stare. “I will always have fat on me,” Mickelson said at the time. “There’s nothing I can do about it — just genetics. As I said earlier, I’ve got subcutaneous fat. And most people who are ripped have visceral. There’s nothing I can do about it. It just lies underneath the skin as opposed to underneath the muscle. And as long as I feel better and get stronger, then I can’t really worry about, you know, body fat.” The only problem with Mickelson’s genetic claim is that everyone in his immediate family — mom, dad, brother and sister — are thin, and the ribbing he took for the statement was mostly good-natured. The teasing turned harsher when Mickelson showed up at the 2004 Ryder Cup with new equipment — balls and woods — that he hadn’t played with before the event. “I could have waited until the end of next year, but I felt that it was in my best interests and the best interests of the team that I do this now,” Mickelson said a day before the event, adding that he was confident in his ability to score low with the new equipment. Mickelson proceeded to lose with Tiger Woods in two team matches, got benched for the second day’s morning match, won with David Toms that afternoon and lost his singles match against Sergio Garcia on the final day. “Phil, he’s bold at times, and he’s not afraid to make a decision that might ruffle a few feathers,” said Stewart Cink, a member of that year’s Ryder Cup team. Mickelson’s biggest faux pas was in 2003, when he managed to rile the world’s top golfer by hinting that Woods played with inferior equipment in an interview for Golf Magazine. “He hates that I can fly it past him now,” Mickelson said. In another dig on Woods, Mickelson said: “Tiger is the only player who is good enough to overcome the equipment he’s stuck with.” The two players were at the Buick Invitational shortly after the quotes were leaked and Mickelson spoke with Woods about the article. “Oh, it certainly was not meant to be a slap by any means,” Mickelson said. “It was just not a well-thought-out statement and an area that I just shouldn’t have gone.” But Mickelson was right, and Woods admitted as much in a Golf Digest interview nearly three years later that his equipment was not as good as it could have been. “I had to get back to hitting the ball farther again,” Woods said in the article. “I didn’t originally go along with the equipment changing everyone else was doing and I got left behind. There were guys hitting the ball farther than me who I used to outdrive, no problem. My swing changes have given me some distance, and I got some with the technology.” It was not the first time Mickelson said something controversial that led to change. He was among players who believed the PGA of America should compensate golfers for playing in the Ryder Cup. The backlash was intense, but the PGA of America soon started giving U.S. players $200,000 to donate to their favorite charities. Mickelson also said the PGA Tour season was too long, and in 2001 he skipped the Tour Championship because he wanted to be with his wife Amy, who was expecting the couple’s second child. That led one pro to sarcastically quip, “Who’s having this child, anyway?” It wasn’t until months later that it was revealed that Amy had nearly died during a scary and difficult labor. But others later agreed with Mickelson about the lengthy season, most notably Woods and Fred Couples, and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem addressed the concerns with a revamped schedule for 2007. “I understand criticism, why I miss certain tournaments,” Mickelson said. “But again, I want to do what works best for me and my family.” When pointed out to Mickelson at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am that he has been accurate more often than not, he was almost surprised. “That’s the first I’ve heard anybody admit that, but thank you,” he said. There’s little solace, though, in being right. Mickelson continues to be criticized. “It’s absolutely part of my job,” Mickelson said. “Look at over the years all the stuff I’ve taken criticism for.” The relationship Woods and Mickelson have is cordial at best, and both go out of their way not to fan any flames of controversy. When asked about the other, both are complimentary and choose their words carefully. That’s not the case with other golfers, however. Paul Gow told an Australian radio station last August that Mickelson “ignores the other players. He’s an arrogant person. He’s the opposite — what you see on television is totally different to what he is around the clubhouse.” Gow went on to say: “He has done some great acting classes in Hollywood and they’ve worked out for him.” One of Mickelson’s main foes is Vijay Singh, a golfer who doesn’t enjoy mingling with fans or the media. The earliest known public origin of their feud began when Singh went on HBO’s “Real Sports” in February 2005 and made disparaging comments about Mickelson. “Yeah, but is that the true Phil?” Singh said. “Is that the true person? Do you see the true side of Phil? I don’t know. I cannot speak for Phil. But you see the true me. I don’t hide things.” That began a mostly one-sided feud, fueled by Singh, which intensified at last year’s Masters. Mickelson confronted Singh in the locker room after Singh told tournament officials Mickelson damaged the greens with his spikes and Singh wanted them checked to make sure they conformed. They did, and when Mickelson heard Singh talking about it after the round in the locker room, a heated exchange ensued. Singh wouldn’t comment on the incident, but Mickelson said in a statement: “After sitting in the locker room for a while, I heard Vijay talking to other players about it and I confronted him. He expressed his concerns. I expressed my disappointment with the way it was handled. I believe everything is fine now.” Singh has since tried to egg him on, most recently at the FBR Open when the two played together on Thursday and Friday of the event. Mickelson beat Singh both days and consistently outdrove him. According to The Associated Press, when Mickelson arrived at the course on Saturday, tour officials asked that Mickelson’s driver be tested. It passed, but the incident didn’t help the relationship when it was reported that Singh requested the test. Buick Invitational director Tom Wilson has known Mickelson for more than 25 years and has never had anything but positive experiences. “Dealing with him and his family, it’s been nothing but a pleasure,” Wilson said. “He’s very gracious with his time.” An example, Wilson said, was when the city of San Diego hosted a Hall of Champions dinner in February but Mickelson couldn’t attend because he was in Florida preparing for the Ford Championship at Doral. “Phil did a videotape for the event,” Wilson said. “Some of the athletes who couldn’t be there didn’t go to the bother of doing one, but Phil went to the trouble of filming a little message. It showed me what a class guy he is.” |
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