Alan Shipnuck: Phil Mickelson’s Long History of Misconduct
Not a golfer myself but Mickelson is a local guy and there have long been stories about him.
https://www.skratch.golf/news/pro-golf/phil-mickelson-misconduct-women-madison-club-bri...
Sorta piling on, but I marshalled the '03 Open at Shinnecock
Phil was insufferable during the practice rounds. Everything was about the money they
had wagered within his foursome. He loudly proclaimed it every time I was anywhere near him.
Talked to a few players and they brought up, unsolicited, that they didn't care for him.
His dad was a big issue too, but it was only things I heard 2nd, 3rd hand.
Evidently he has exclusive rights, or did, to sell those periscopes spectators use.
Lastly, Henrik Stenson did yoga at every tee and that Viking can put himself into a pretzel. We were all like, what just happened here? Big time athletes are just different.
Somethat OT, but: I hate Shinnecock on TV.
by domer.mq 
, Monday, June 29, 2026, 11:46 (22 days ago) @ cdawg
I'm sure it's a beautiful course and it's clearly up to being a US Open test for the players, but on TV every hole is basically indistinguishable from one another. It really detracts from watching golf on TV b/c you can't kind of think about a player's position on the leaderboard and what they've got coming up ahead. It's weird b/c even with St Andrews and Carnoustie there's holes and aspects you kind of use in your head to think thru the dynamics of the tournament.
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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.
He and Tiger have long hated each other --
though not over stuff in this article.
I remember when Tiger announced he wasn't going to go back to Stanford for his (junior?) year and was going to play his way onto the PGA tournament in 7 sponsors' invites.
Mickelson said dismissively when asked about whether it was a good idea that "well he doesn't have a PGA card." All Tiger had to do was to play his way into the top 125 which he quickly did winning at least one tournament.
I thought "oh boy, this is gonna be something."
They tried to have a sort of Jack and Arnie routine but it never really came off. They played in those "matches" and did other stuff but they hated each other.
Tiger started winning majors right away (notably his huge win at the Master's in 1997) and it took Phil forever.
Tiger was dismissive of Phil because he thought Phil had more ability than anyone but didn't put in the work and constantly took crazy chances that cost him tournaments.
When Tiger got "outed" in the Thanksgiving debacle it is said that is scared Phil straight for a bit. The story I got (from a Korn-Ferry player so take it fwiw) is that Tiger had two phones and was going to play poker with Barkley and some others and took the wrong phone. His phone kept ringing at home and his wife picked it up and it was these sweet young things who had been trained to say they were from IMG. After about 6 phone calls from "IMG girls" it didn't take long for her to figure out what was going on. She reportedly smashed the f*ck out of his trophies and then went after him and his car when he got back home.
Phil has imo fewer excuses. He clearly has an addictive personality that he can't or won't control. How else does one suffer $70 million in gambling losses in a year? But he's had a wife who has put up with him through all of this.
Tiger had more scrutiny on him than anyone since Michael Jordan and his "team" built him a too-safe bubble.
They're both sort of tragic figures.
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"Somewhere in Middle America"
Pairing Tiger and Phil in the Ryder was one heck of
by BillyGoat , At Thanksgiving with Joe Bethersontin, Monday, June 29, 2026, 10:47 (22 days ago) @ omahadomer
a choice by a few different captains. I mean, WTF.
I’ve heard Amy is a very kind woman
by San Pedro , Monday, June 29, 2026, 05:37 (23 days ago) @ omahadomer
Who loves to gamble just as much as Phil.
I absolutely idolized him in HS.
by domer.mq , Saturday, June 27, 2026, 12:16 (24 days ago) @ hobbs
He wasn't and isn't all that much older than me, but he won so young and was such a young star. I met his wife at Harbor Town and she was very nice. Now they both just seem awful. Always a bummer when you really know your heroes.
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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.
I’d amend that last line
by Jack , Sunday, June 28, 2026, 15:08 (23 days ago) @ domer.mq
edited by Jack, Sunday, June 28, 2026, 15:13
“when your heroes turn out to be jerks.”
There are sometimes the opposite, people you like from afar who you find out really are good people.
But yeah, I used to like Phil. Now I actively root against him.
The fact that he's gone Elon Musk fanboy/MAGA while
by ReginaldVelJohnson , Saturday, June 27, 2026, 18:18 (24 days ago) @ domer.mq
also selling out for Saudi oil money really crystallized the public heel-turn.
All those fit together when you think about it
by Jack , Sunday, June 28, 2026, 15:31 (23 days ago) @ ReginaldVelJohnson
- No text -
LaFun’s and my grandfather hated him before it was cool
Our dad’s dad, whom otherwise I never heard curse worse than “damn”, didn’t like Mickelson’s “shit eating grin.”
For the longest time, we thought this was hilarious. How can you not like Phil? Especially after the Payne Stewart “you’re going to be a great dad” US Open comment.
Clearly, Grampie knew what he was talking about.
That said a lot more about Payne Stewart as a good guy
by Jack , Sunday, June 28, 2026, 15:24 (23 days ago) @ Kumar
edited by Jack, Sunday, June 28, 2026, 15:33
than Mickelson.
I’m happy to say in retrospect I was rooting for Stewart to win that U.S. Open.
Kind of ironic...
by domer.mq , Sunday, June 28, 2026, 08:22 (23 days ago) @ Kumar
given that reportedly his wife was really coaching him up to "smile more" when he was working to finally win a major.
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Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.
Had friends who knew him in…
by PMan , The Banks of the Spokane River, Saturday, June 27, 2026, 13:09 (24 days ago) @ domer.mq
HS at Uni in San Diego, and said he was a narcissistic jerk, especially to girls, then.
Met Phil once as teenagers through a then-friend I played soccer with who went on to become a tour pro; won’t name him because he still teaches golf in San Diego.
I never cared for him.
Always felt like he was a phony. And who knows -- he may have been a legitimately decent man for a while, but the heavy gambling stuff hinted at some demons underneath all of that. Undoubtedly, this has curdled over time and he's now just another extremely rich & powerful person who has used his status to fuck over a variety of 'lessers' in a variety of ways.
It's important that we still have outlets to speak truth to power and call people what they are, all the way to the very top. Wish more Americans cared as much about the behavior of their "public servants" as they do their heroes.
One doesn't have to look far
To see that there are a number of very vocal clowns online attacking Shipnuck (the reporter). Not surprising that many of these clowns are big LIV bros.
Also, there's probably a very, very large number of people reading this and shrugging their shoulders. Or even rooting him on. A famous athlete cheating on his wife on the regular, keeping a bachelor pad above the grill/bar of his posh country club, gambling on everything left right and center? Sounds great! Where do I sign?
Years ago, this would have meant the end of his public and professional life. Now? He should probably run for President.
It's precisely why Trump has a predilection
to reflexively support criminals, cheaters, scumbags in general. He can naturally relate, and they make him feel better about who he is and the decisions he's made over & over throughout his life. Because he's human garbage.
Jon Stewart did a rather prescient bit in a comedy show probably 20 years ago that is more true than ever. Basically that we should want people to represent us who are BETTER than we are. Smarter, more accomplished, etc. Why wouldn't you want the best of the best in charge of running the country? Why is this such a hangup for Americans?
Over time, this has evolved into a situation in which a sizeable percentage of our citizens feel "shown up" by people who are deemed experts in a certain arena and so they instead vote for dullards like them who have zero training or expertise. Social media has tapped into an underlying insecurity in our populace that wants to reject experts in favor of "outsiders". Until it's time to fly the fucking plane you're on or remove your gallbladder, and then suddenly we care very much about how many times you've done that before versus "conducting your own research" on YouTube.
I love this Mencken quote:
by oviedoirish , Oviedo, Florida, Monday, June 29, 2026, 05:20 (23 days ago) @ KGB
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
― H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe