San Diego’s Phil Mickelson; a Legend in His Own Mind?

I’m sure most of you have heard by now about the trials and travails of one San Diego native Phil Mickelson.

As it has been widely reported, Mickelson has been tossed out of a few clubs now, for acting inappropriately. As reported by Skratch and Golf Digest, their reports revealed that Mickelson had ‘abruptly departed’ or been forced out of three elite California golf clubs; The Farms in Rancho Santa Fe,  The Madison Club in LaQuinta and The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe, due to his personal conduct. On June 11, Joel Beall and Tod Leonard of Golf Digest reported that, a few months earlier, Mickelson had been told to leave the grounds at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, because of alleged “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” with a female employee. A representative for Mickelson confirmed that he had resigned from the club after decades of being a member there. Mickelson’s attorney Tom Clare muddied the waters by telling Golf Digest, “Any misunderstanding has been cleared up” and “there is a great deal of misinformation circulating…” So, Phil‘s ‘personal family health matter’ may just be the fact that his wife (who by the way was well known on the PGA Tour as being a very sweet and humble soul) has finally seen the light and is possibly going to pull the trigger on their marriage.

To be honest, despite Phil‘s ‘aw shucks’ presentation, it’s so interesting that this type of attitude and behavior is now finally coming to public light, but it apparently has been going on for some time. One example happened over 30 years ago; he was being interviewed having won the former Mercedes Championships that were held at La Costa. It was tradition that an interview with the prior winner was featured in the program/coffee table book that accompanied the tournament. The interviewer who had done many successful interviews, shared that Phil was so belligerent and non-responsive in the interview, that he finally had to terminate the interview, letting tournament officials know that Phil couldn’t be featured as he normally would because of his behavior. (To add to that, unconfirmed sources indicated back then that Phil sold the Mercedes SL500 convertible that was part of the winner’s take for cash, really pissing off the good folks at Mercedes).

Another source confirmed a first-hand account that Phil was approached by someone involved with the Psoriatic Arthritis Foundation. Since Phil had been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, the individual asked Phil if he could provide some basic support to a Foundation fundraising effort. Phil apparently mumbled that he would be happy to help in front of others, but later the individual was shocked to receive correspondence apparently from Phil‘s agent that said Phil would be happy to make an appearance at the event, but it would cost $1 million! That was obviously a shocking response but appears to follow a pattern.

Mickelson’s gambling issues are also that of urban legend, as well. Maybe one can only hope that these past exposures and the humiliation they have brought will provide him the impetus to maybe reassess and change his ways.

By the way, the betting line on that happening is ‘even money’…