Both on these boards and elsewhere I have regularly heard folks claim that Phil Mickelson is generally considered to be a jerk by his peers. I have regularly requested, but never been provided, any credible/reliable evidence of the claim.
Thought of that this weekend when I saw all the players wearing pink in recognition of Phil’s wife’s recent diagnosis. And during the winner’s interview Rocco talked of what his “good friends” were going through.
So, do the fellow pros love Amy but despise her husband?
Are they wearing pink just because they are image-conscious and considered it to their personal benefit?
Were they honoring all breast cancer victims?
Was there an edict from on high?
Or are the unsupported claims that Phil is a generally disliked dick actually bullshit?
(Was talking with a guy on the course yesterday, and the only thing he had to offer was that he heard Phil is a great tipper, whereas Tiger is a cheapass.)
GQ polled professional athletes to find the least popular among their peers. Here’s what they said about Phil, who of course “won” least popular golfer.
Yeah, I’ve seen that article, and it is about the strongest “proof” tha I’ve seen. A couple of quotes attributed to a couple of un-named golfers and journalists. And the situations they describe seem no more significant than could easily be attributed to so many other golfers. Sergio’s whining, Veej’s criticism, Ryder Cup members complaining about not being compensated and declining invitations to the White House…
So, the golfers all think Phil is a dick, and nevertheless wear pink. Why?
I’m not sure it is such a contradiction for Phil to be unpopular and yet for the players to wear pink after his wife was diagnosed. I can still feel sympathy for a tragedy befalling someone I don’t particularly like, and besides, I’m sure most people have someone close to them who has fought cancer, so its a subject near and dear.
I don’t know whether the GQ article is truth, fiction, or somewhere in between, but I don’t think his popularity can be judged one way or the other by virtue of a show of support or solidarity over Amy’s cancer.
Or, third option: he used to be an unpopular dick and has changed. Who knows?
FTR, I think Sabbatini has close personal friends who have been affected by breast cancer.
IMO, I think some peers resent Lefty because he is so fan friendly, he goes the extra mile to sign autographs and make eye contact and smile and the golf fans. Many pro golfers don’t like the intrusion and they look bad in comparison.
Me: There is no other golfer that I would rather watch play. He is simply the most exciting golfer on earth. The Ford as campaign from a few years ago hit the nail on the head. "What will Phil do next?
Arnie excited the masses by going for broke in tight situations. I like it that Phil goes full bore and tries difficult shots. So does Tiger. Most of us remember Tiger shooting from a trap over water to set up a tournament win. it is good TV. We like gamblers. We like risk takers. We like exciting and wild tournies. Phil provides that. Tiger provides that. I don’t care about his personal life. A lot of athletes think they are special. I expect it from them.
The joke I’ve heard is “What’s the difference between Phil and Amy Mickelson? - On Phil, the tits are real and the simile’s fake”.
Implying that Amy’s smile is real, of course. But yeah, Amy seems to be genuinely well liked, while Phil is not. Reasons are many, but don’t forget Phil was a hotshot youth player with the accompanying teenage ego. A lot of these players came up the amateur ranks together and they have long memories.
In short: you can wear pink in sympathy and support even if you don’t particularly like someone. It’s good for your own image, you don’t need to like someone to sympathize with them, and you might like his wife better than you do him.
Or, in short, tour members as a whole tend to be driven, super-competitive folk with little personality or particular intelligence on subjects other than golf, and their alleged dislike for Lefty has been grossly exaggerated.
If anything, I suspect they are likely jealous of his tremendous success.
Just my opinion - but as well supported as that GQ article wholly dependant on un-named sources.
Most people are able to overlook somebody’s personal faults in the face of a larger tragedy. I think Mike Tyson’s an asshole but he has my sympathy this week.
It hasn’t been exaggerated. It sounds like you really want it to be false, but it isn’t, in my experience. I’m not going to drop numerous names here, but I know several people who have been around golf, the PGA, and Phil since he was in high school. None of them have anything good to say about him. It isn’t just players and it isn’t jealousy. The same people have nothing but glowing things to say about Tiger and his wife.
This isn’t true, so I should take it back. They think Phil is an excellent PR man who has done a wonderful job cultivating an image for himself, his sponsors, and the PGA tour. He is good for golf.
Really, I couldn’t care one way or the other. Hell, I disingenuous or not, IMO Phil interacts with the fans in a manner preferale to Lord Tiger. But I’ll never be a huge fan of his simply because he has let me down too many times.
The main thing that bothers me is the absolute lack of specificity to support the allegations. In my opinion, it is pretty damned gutless to spread negative pub about someone, but to lack the balls to identify yourself or provide any specifics. (I’m not talking about you, but instead the players who have been willing to dish dirt anonymously, and the press who’ve been eager to spread anonymous dirt.)
As I said, I suspect the vast majority of tour members would impress me as hyper-competitive egomaniacs, with a good measure of ultra-conservative bible-thumpers tossed in.
Here’s another article saying the same things.
*
Phil Mickelson is one of the three most popular golfers in the world with spectators. Only Tiger Woods and John Daly match Mickelson in the level of adulation heaped on him by golf fans. The fans love Lefty.
But his peers do not. That’s long been known to media members who cover golf, and to fans who are connoisseurs of PGA Tour gossip. Mickelson battles Sergio Garcia, among others, when it comes to the title of Tour player least-liked by other golfers.*
…
*
On the opposite end of the scale is Vijay Singh, who has never been very popular with fans - but is one of the most well-liked players on Tour*.
There aren’t very many bible thumpers, to be honest. There are certainly a few, but less than you would find in, say, football. Almost all are hyper-competitive (I have no idea how a moderately competitive person could ever hope to be successful as a professional athlete), but the vast majority of players I’ve come into contact with are not ego maniacs. Most players on tour are rather obscure people who are unknown to the general public.
I’m not sure why you’re rolling eyes at me over my post. I don’t think anything I said warranted such a snide attitude from you, but maybe so. Of course, it would help if you would actually point out what it was you didn’t like. Emoticons are really neat-o, but they don’t do much to clear the waters.
I’ll help you out: he doesn’t like evidence proving him wrong in his pre-conceived assumptions.
Seriously, I’m sure that the reported dislike of Lefty is greater than the actual level of dislike. I would be willing to bet that, as with most things, the louder detractors get the lion’s share of the attention. So, as with most people, he will have good friends, he will have people who generally like him, but don’t know him well, he will have people who are ambivalent about him, he will have people who dislike him some, but don’t really think about it much and he will have those who dislike him a lot, and whose opinions can best be summed up by the language used by Wood’s caddy, “He’s a prick.”
For Mickelson, I would think that evidence shows the skew on the grouping is towards the “dislike” end of the spectrum. And remember, these guys spend a LOT of time around each other. :eek:
It looks to me like it DOES resolve it. In your OP you state “I have regularly requested, but never been provided, any credible/reliable evidence of the claim.”
It looks to me like some pretty reliable evidence has been given. How about turning the question around. Can anyone provide any credible/reliable evidence that Phil Mickelson is generally considered to be a nice guy by his colleagues?
That’s pretty much what I’ve always heard. I have never met any of the players, so I have no first-hand knowledge of whether Vijay is really a great guy or Phil is really a jerk, but that’s always been the scuttlebutt.
Thing is, we fans CAN’T read minds, and we can’t know who’s really a good person. We can ONLY judge athletes and celebrities by the way they treat us and by the way they behave in public.
So, if Phil Mickelson smiles, talks to fans, and willingly spends time signing autographs, of COURSE fans are going to love him, even if it’s all an act. And if Vijay Singh treats fans with icy disdain, of COURSE they’re going to dislike him, even if he’s a warm, wonderful guy in the locker room.
To use a crude analogy, I don’t know what the waitresses at my favorite restaurant are REALLY like. I tip them based on the service and friendliness they give me, NOT on the virtues they exemplify in their private lives. If Susie is a bitch in “real” life, but treats me like a prince while serving me, she gets a big tip. If Tammy is a sweetheart and a delightful person when off-duty, but gives me perfunctory treatment on the job, she deserves to get stiffed.
Fans WANT to like the players on the PGA tour. They WANT to like Vijay Singh. And they WOULD, if he’d show them just a hint of warmth, if he’d spend just a few minutes signing autographs. If he chooses not to, fine- but I don’t ever want to hear him griping about hte stupid fans who prefer that “phony” Mickelson.
I assume you’re only using Vijay in a hypothetical example. He signs lots of autographs & hasn’t been gruff in his attitude towards other golfers on the tour. He’s perceived as having a lack of personality, not as a jerk.
