The last 48 hours I’ve been barraged by emailers and media friends gossiping about the personal life of Phil and Amy Mickelson. I’m trying to steer clear of anything involving cancer-stricken Amy, but I did look closer at all the Mickelson gambling rumors that have circulated the past decade or so.
(Mickelson’s Callaway also paid John Daly’s $1.7M gambling debt)
By studying all that’s been credibly written during that time about Mickelson’s propensity to play the tables and bet NFL, some dot-connecting should give serious pause to many of Phil’s new-found fans. (And those lovable amnesiacs in your life.)
On Sept. 18, 2004, Tom Boswell of the WASHINGTON POST wrote a scathing piece about Mickelson’s bizarre and ill-fated decision to switch from Titleist clubs, which he’d just played to his first major championship win at The Masters, to Callaway clubs only one week before the 2004 Ryder Cup. A Ryder Cup in which Mickelson performed poorly, signaling an embarrassingly lopsided loss to the Europeans.
Phil Mickelson took cash over country. Lefty rolled the dice. It may prove the worst gamble of his risk-taking career.
Of course, with about $80 million of Callaway Golf’s money under his pillow, maybe Phil will sleep like a baby.
When the Ryder Cup resumes Saturday morning, Mickelson, perhaps the best golfer in the world, will be on the bench for the American team, kicked out of the lineup in shame by disgusted captain Hal Sutton.
At sundown, after the worst day in the history of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Sutton was asked if Mickelson’s switch in equipment from Titleist to Callaway just two weeks ago might have contributed to the two stunning defeats that Mickelson and Tiger Woods suffered at the hands of two European pairings. Sutton mulled the idea.
“We’ll all want answers to that. But the most important person that’s going to have to wonder about that is going to be Phil Mickelson.
“It’s not going to cause us any grief in the morning because he’s going to be cheering instead of playing.”
Just before Mickelson’s club switch and his subsequent, disastrous Ryder Cup, USA TODAY, via GOLFWEEK, reported that Lefty still had 16 months left on his contract with Titleist, worth more than $4 million a year.
The quick decision to dump Titleist for Callaway also came at a time when Mickelson was playing the best golf of his life. He had finally broken through at Augusta National to win his first major, then came within a combined five shots of winning the other three majors. More:
Golfweek cited unidentified sources as saying Mickelson and his agent, Steve Loy of Gaylord Sports Management, asked Titleist to renegotiate the deal after Mickelson won the Masters. But Titleist refused, and discussions followed that enabled Mickelson to get out of the deal.
Two weeks later Mickelson was playing the most prestigious team golf competition in the world, the Ryder Cup, with clubs he’d tried out for a single day at Callaway’s SoCal headquarters in Carlsbad, CA.
That’s almost as strange as Mickelson wanting to suddenly renegotiate a contract with a company that had stuck with him through lean times - with only 16 months left on the deal
So why on earth did Lefty need the $80M from Callaway so quickly that he would end up embarrassing himself (and his country) at the Ryder Cup?
Previous to Mickelson’s abrupt equipment change, there’d been plenty of rumors about his enthusiasm for gambling in Vegas and betting NFL.
From a Jack McCallum SPORTS ILLUSTRATED piece on Mickelson in 2002:
He made frequent trips to Las Vegas when he was in college but now goes only occasionally, usually with Amy, and plays baccarat. His passion for poring over NFL agate (he spent much of his 12-hour flight to the British Open studying preseason magazines, committing to memory the most obscure player moves), suggests a gambling Jones, as do the six TVs (including an 80-incher), each with its own satellite receiver, that beam every NFL game into the Mickelson house in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. But he says he rarely bets on pro football, the preseason Super Bowl wager being an exception. “You can’t win betting the NFL,” he says, and Mickelson gambles to win.
But after the 2004 crazy club endorsement deal switcheroo that netted Mickelson $80M, the gambling rumors that were fueled by anecdotes in the media from Mickelson himself suddenly morphed into gambling debt rumors.
So with that gambling debt talk swirling, what did Mickelson do? Write a book in early 2005, called One Magical Sunday.
As part of his publicity for the book, Mickelson told GOLF Magazine that he hadn’t gambled since 2003 - after the difficult birth of his son Evan: “Evan. I don’t really want to get into that, but it’s in my new book, One Magical Sunday. But I did it for Evan.”
Mickelson also confirmed those comments to USA Today.
Up to now, there’d been absolutely no reason to believe the rumors that Mickelson’s switch to Callaway was related gambling debts.
Then there’s Mickelson’s 2005 Masters press conference:
Q: You were quoted in Golf Magazine recently saying that you made the decision two years ago to stop gambling
A: Mickelson: I never said that.Q. The quote that I have here is, “I heard you haven’t gambled since 2003; is that true?” And your quote here is, “Yes, it is, March, actually.” I was wondering why.
A: Mickelson: I just referred to my book, Chapter 13, and I’ll do the same with you.Q. I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to read it.
A: Mickelson: It’s at every bookstore (laughter from media).
After that interview, Barker Davis of the WASHINGTON TIMES broke the dam, via SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY:
In DC, Barker Davis reports “this week’s most outrageous rumor for the caddie clique” is that Mickelson switched from Titleist to Callaway last September “because he has run up considerable gambling debts.” But Callaway officials “are irate about the rumor and yesterday explained that … they had an intensive background check done on Mickelson’s gambling history.” A Callaway source: “It came back completely clean”
The LONDON TELEGRAPH then reported Jim Rome piling on after the report from Davis:
”Callaway angrily deny this, saying they did an extensive check on Mickelson’s gambling history. The fact that Callaway felt it necessary to do an intensive background check or that Mickelson even has a gambling history to speak of, tells you something right there. It’s always dicey to comment on rumour and innuendo, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire and right now there’s an awful lost of smoke coming off Phil Mickelson.”
That leads us to perhaps the most telling interview Mickelson did about the controversy, with Mark Cannizzaro of the NEW YORK POST after The Masters in May, 2005.
“It’s been very interesting to hear some of the stuff that’s been said about me - some of the hurtful stuff, some of the malicious rumors I’ve heard about me,” Mickelson said.
When Mickelson abruptly withdrew from a tournament in Las Vegas last fall, rumors swirled like storm clouds that he’d spent the night gambling and couldn’t answer the bell for his Saturday tee time.
Mickelson, however, said he became violently sick to his stomach on the way to the course and went directly to the hospital - causing alarm at the tournament, where organizers were for a short time unaware of his status.
“One minute I heard I was up $4 million and the next minute I heard I was down $4 million,” Mickelson said of the stories. “It was ridiculous.”
Despite the fact that the last time anyone checked, gambling is legal in Las Vegas and in other places, Mickelson could not be more vehement in his insistence that he hasn’t gambled since his son, Evan, was born in March of 2003 after a pregnancy that was so difficult he nearly lost both Evan and his wife.
“I’m allergic to smoke and I don’t like the taste of alcohol,” Mickelson said. “So, the only [vice] I enjoyed was gambling a little bit, and that was kind of the only bargaining chip that I could find two years ago with Evan’s birth.”
Mickelson - who wrote about the reason he ceased gambling in the book he and Amy wrote, titled “One Magical Sunday” - has been reticent to talk publicly about the gambling, he says, because he feels like it only adds fuel to the rumors.
When Mickelson made a controversial equipment switch from Titleist to Callaway just before last fall’s Ryder Cup, for example, rumors ran rampant that Callaway had assumed gambling debts that he couldn’t afford to pay. The company’s founder, the late Ely Callaway, was said to have paid some of John Daly’s debts when he signed Daly, which is probably the reason Mickelson was tagged with those rumors.
Another source of the rumors’ momentum came from Mickelson’s much-publicized bet, with a group of friends, on the Ravens to win the 2001 Super Bowl. The group won nearly $500,000 at 28-1 odds.
His reputation was further burnished when the PGA Tour slapped him on the wrist for making a $500 wager with fellow golfer Mike Weir at the NEC Invitational that August and, later, after he and friends won $60,000 by picking the Diamondbacks to beat the Yankees in the World Series.
“When I hear things said that are malicious, I have to call every one of the companies I represent and let them know,” said Mickelson, when asked how he handles the constant innuendo. ” . . . I’ve had to make sure everyone knew what was being said and how it wasn’t true.
“As a representative of a company, I take that really seriously, because a lot of companies shy away from having individuals represent them because of the philosophy that events don’t fail; people do.
Every one of my companies have done background checks - and I want them to, I encourage it, because they’re taking a huge leap of faith trusting me with their product and being a part of their company.”
Interesting was Cannizzaro’s noting that Mickelson, “has been reticent to talk publicly about the gambling, he says, because he feels like it only adds fuel to the rumors.”
That’s exactly what Tiger Woods agent Mark Steinberg said to reporters last week on why he hasn’t denied his involvement in any of his client’s extramarital affairs.
Mickelson wonders why the published reports and rumors persist about how his alleged gambling debts may have led to a hasty deal with Callaway which effectively sold the U.S. down the river in the 2004 Ryder Cup, yet he’s never denied any of it.
I want to believe that Mickelson didn’t cheat the game of golf and his country because of his alleged gambling debts. I really do.
But Lefty won’t let me.
5:38 pm on April 13th, 2010
You just cant wait to tear down what this guy accomplished on Sunday. Why has it taken you so long to look into these supposed allegations. 6 years later for some strange reason your on the hunt to find the truth. In my opinion this is spineless.
5:51 pm on April 13th, 2010
This is ancient history, who cares at this point.
5:52 pm on April 13th, 2010
Also, the whole team got bombed by the Europeans in 2004.
6:04 pm on April 13th, 2010
As a Tiger fan, I feel bad for Phil because the tabloids are about to comb through his life. And I don’t think Phil asked for this to be turned into “good” Phil vs. “evil” Tiger, but the comparison is out there and no one’s life can withstand the scrutiny he and his wife are about to go through. Don’t blame Brooks for reporting it; this stuff was on other websites before the Masters ever happened. If people had told us six months ago that Tiger would be caught in a huge sex scandal, we wouldn’t have believed that either. It is about to get ugly for Phil.
6:15 pm on April 13th, 2010
What a bunch of crab, “cheat the game of golf and his country” by switching clubs? What a stretch that is. Sutton was a terrible captain and should have never paired Phil and Tiger together. They didn’t like each other and the way they played showed that. Seems like your just pissing in the Mickelson punch after a great Masters victory.
6:31 pm on April 13th, 2010
Who cares if he gambles? He’s got the money to deal with it, and then some. I’m a religious person, but good luck actually finding anything in the Bible that actually condemns gambling. Much of the moral opprobrium comes from the passages that recount the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus gambling for his clothes, but I’ve gotta be honest, I tend to think that episode is less anti-gambling and more anti-crucifying Sons of God.
6:49 pm on April 13th, 2010
What a bunch of BULL. U reporters, who probably never even wore a jock, can’t wait to elevate Tiger and tear everyone else down. Personally if I never see Tiger again it will be too soon. The tour went over 4 mos without JC, GD and F—. Can u imagine how many kids will grow up thinking that is the way to play golf? That and throwing clubs-what a bum!
6:58 pm on April 13th, 2010
If you’re citing Jim Rome as an authority, you haven’t made the case. Even Republican saint Bill Bennett gambled.
7:06 pm on April 13th, 2010
What a bunch of crap!!! Phil makes a mother load of money from golf and endorsements. Is this “article” saying he threw the Ryder Cup? If so then this site must be deleted. I haven’t read so much of shit in a long time. I used to love this site but this was an attack on Phil Mickelson for doing nothing wrong.
7:44 pm on April 13th, 2010
So what..its not illegal and its his money. i dont think there’s a risk that he will bet on Tiger and shank a few balls if he’s winning a tournament. I’m not a Phil fan but it’s crazy the way the sports world is becoming so “National Enquirish”.
7:56 pm on April 13th, 2010
Can’t wait to hear the reaction from all of you whiny Phil apologists when his baby-mamas start coming out of the woodwork with his bastard children. And Amy is no saint herself. She’s obviously receiving the cancer version of diplomatic immunity.
7:59 pm on April 13th, 2010
Are you serious with this story, old news and meaningless
8:02 pm on April 13th, 2010
Tiger sucked @ first when he switched clubs.
8:15 pm on April 13th, 2010
Looks like the pro Tiger media and group is trying to tear down the Phil camp! I love SbS but this is crap and very hurtful after Phil and Amy made us ALL feel good that he won the Masters after spending more time with his wife than on the golf course.
8:18 pm on April 13th, 2010
What do people expect. ? After St. (?) Jim Nantz anointed him St. Phil on Sunday what else are reporters going to do besides speculate whether it’s true or not. All we know about Phil after Sunday is that he is really good at golf. … nothing else.
8:21 pm on April 13th, 2010
lost the ryder cup??? let the country down??? most prestigious golf competition IN THE WORLD??? nobody cares…it means nothing to anyone…the world weeped…it caused the tsunami…islamic terrororism was increased…someone told hillary clinton to ignore caucus states thus allowing this stuttering obama empty suit to use those delegates to beat her…and it was all caused by phil switching clubs! by the way… sutton who?
9:08 pm on April 13th, 2010
The man just won 2 days ago and now people are all ready looking for dirt on him to bring him down. No matter what is found it still will never top the sick twisted things Tiger allegedly did in my opinion.
9:53 pm on April 13th, 2010
How about doing as much research to find out how much USC pays players as you do with Mickelson then I might care.
9:57 pm on April 13th, 2010
Wow. This is pathetic, Brooks. Seriously. Get a freaking life.
10:01 pm on April 13th, 2010
And Phil’s former agent blames mj and Charles for corrupting him.
12:42 am on April 14th, 2010
A very good friend lived 4 houses down from the Mikellson’s in Scottsdale. Their move to San Diego was much about Amy wanting to get Phil away from a cadre of like minded gambling buddies. Legal of course. Saintly not.
12:45 am on April 14th, 2010
wow, you wasted a lot of time writing that story, huh?
sure, different clubs have different feel, but I can adjust and a pro can too
“selling out his country” - what a load of garbage. dude gets a chance for an $80M deal, and strikes while the iron is hot, with or without debts of any type.
how about this for why he wanted to renegotiate his current deal or sign a new one…. he had just won the masters and had a lot of leverage at the moment.
plus, you never know what will happen with the economy or whatever, so with a mega deal like that on the table, almost anyone would take it.
plus you’re really pushing a lot of angles, including that he hasn’t denied it.
not to mention that Tiger must have played poorly because of Phil’s club switch too, huh? or maybe golfers sometimes have a bad day or slump…
the whole post is such an incredible stretch that it’s a serious insult to everyone’s intelligence, which is why most replies are ridiculing it.
I’m really not invested in Phil at all, I’m just invested in logic and truth. I know, I should know better than to read a rumor-mongering blog.
1:17 am on April 14th, 2010
So Amy cheated on one compulsive gambler with another? I see a speeding DUI in Charles Barkley’s future as he races to get in on this.
6:34 am on April 14th, 2010
Lefty is a huge pussy and I hope Steve Wynn decides to come after his ass too…
7:34 am on April 14th, 2010
Way to rip down the only positive thing in golf this year.
7:44 am on April 14th, 2010
Hopefully he put $100,000 on himself to win the Masters this yr.
I didn’t realize Phil, or anyone, could single handedly lose a team golf event. Too bad he took the brunt for the US choke job.
7:50 am on April 14th, 2010
What’s the matter Books? Feelin’ guilty about all the Tiger news?
8:05 am on April 14th, 2010
WoW, Brooks!!! Hating the Masters’ Champ, today?
Can we get a story about Phil, from anytime, other than 2004, and 2005?
…….and do you really give an “s”, about the 2004 Ryder Cup team??
This article, at this time, is really odd (on your part, Brooks)
I’ll still read u everyday, tho!!!
8:09 am on April 14th, 2010
Wow, you’re really taking the criticism, right in the shorts on this one, Brooks!!!
We, as readers, need an explanation, as to exactly why, you took the time to write this bullsh…….
9:08 am on April 14th, 2010
WTF?!?!?!? Who cares about gambling? If I was in debt and I had a family I would take the money over country too. Nonetheless, even in Phil sucked at the Ryder Cup so did the rest of the team and they don’t even have an excuse. Sutton was the worst captain in Ryder Cup history and not because they lost but because of his pairings. What the hell is all this animosity about? Jealousy maybe? What’s the need to rip a dude down immediately following his success? Just come to grips with the fact you run a website and all these athletes you tear down for no good reason will always be infinitely more successful than you.
9:13 am on April 14th, 2010
Citations to Jim Rome among others. Classless. Come up with some real evidence other than the fact that the guy loves the NFL and has made two or three bets in his life. As usual, Brooks is a rumor-spewing jackass.
10:06 am on April 14th, 2010
Well, looks like all the Phil lovers jumping up to get his back again. They just love that big smilin’ gambler persona.
10:24 am on April 14th, 2010
Seriously Brooks - do you post anything of relevance anymore? You bring this old crap up from 2003 cause the guy won the Masters and his wife has cancer?
Dude you need to get back to doing what you do best - travel around with your girls and take photos - your news stories are for shat.
10:31 am on April 14th, 2010
This is just dumb.
10:34 am on April 14th, 2010
Kudos to Brooks for being fair and square and putting Mickelson’s unsavory behavior out there. Now if we can just get a story on the illegitimate baby her has with some stripper.
10:46 am on April 14th, 2010
I used to come to this site for the humorous posts. Now it’s just garbage. Seriously, your site sucks anymore.
10:47 am on April 14th, 2010
In all the years I’ve read SBB, never seen this kind of hate on Brooks.
I think this is a clear indication that the site is now officially big time mainstream because ppl are passionate enough about SBB to have these sorts of opinions.
Not that I agree with what Brooks is doing here, but to his credit he kept the speculation to a minimum as usual and gives us the facts. I never knew that Phil’s gambling was such an issue.
I wish Brooks had connected these dots when the whole thing went down in 2005. phil does look guilty as sin here.
At the very least I would agree that Phil cheated the game at that time, but to bring it up now makes it look like a cheap shot - only after Masters win.
BUT this is legit news.
11:54 am on April 14th, 2010
All the points you make about Phil’s gambling doesn’t “connect” any dots; it just makes a lame story for Brooks to write and for us to comment on. Thus Brooks wins; we’re on his site posting and hopefully for his advertisers, clicking on their lame-ass adds. Brooks or his sponsors could care less what we want/think, just as long as we’re here. This is what it’s about, period.
12:09 pm on April 14th, 2010
Lame, Brooks
As said earlier,, It’s his money. Where is the news story? Are you board? Slow news day? Next you’ll be reporting that the millions of people in casinos are probably gambling. This is not even remotely interesting… Careful, your loosing credibility.
W T F
12:49 pm on April 14th, 2010
I don’t really care. Never have liked Mickeltits and probably never will.
2:48 pm on April 14th, 2010
Some of these “sports writers” are really reaching to come up with anything that anyone, with a life, would be vaguely interested in hearing or reading. We don’t care if Phil enjoys
ambling, it’s none of our business. Sports figures only owe the public their best effort in the sport they play, that’s all.
4:02 pm on April 14th, 2010
F*** PHIL and all you losers who are riding his nuts. Its like Phil is some fucking hero cause his mom and wife got cancer? Well I’m sure the hundreds of millions of dollars and first rate medical care certainly helped. The real hero is JOE BLOW busting his ass at real job with a wife who has cancer not this smug douche bag
4:17 pm on April 14th, 2010
to the previous poster : Uneducated children shouldn’t be posting on websites.
,,, hows that double digit IQ working for you?
6:20 pm on April 14th, 2010
I have not read your site in a few months cause of all this lame tiger talk and I go to it today and read this crap. I don’t expect this TMZ bull sh@! news you printed here to be true. But I do think there is some level of comon sense you have to have before you try to put out there for real news. And to try and quote the Howard Stern of sports radio is not a very good source. Hey Brooks if TMZ offered you $80 mil to change your site to there’s would you do it???? Yea thats what I though. Never going to read this site again hvae fun with Paris Hilton news.
7:28 pm on April 14th, 2010
Perez Brooks … yawn!!!!
7:29 pm on April 14th, 2010
I’ll make it unanimous …. who gives a f***
8:41 pm on April 14th, 2010
Seriously?
9:53 pm on April 14th, 2010
You have to be smoking something. The guy trades equipment/sponsors and makes a bundle on a new deal ? And you brand him as some sort of traitor ? Get a life. Tabloid muckraking brought to a new low.
1:46 am on April 15th, 2010
anyone who on such scant evidence accuses phil of selling out…is themselves a sellout
5:43 am on April 15th, 2010
Perhaps I’m remembering the Ryder Cup incorrectly but I recall the whole damn team played piss poorly; lost by what, 9 points?
And Hal can say what he want, but the decision to pair Tiger and Phil was just dumb and proof of poor coaching. Again, I recall that a lot of his pairings went under scrutiny….
hrm…. did Hal sign any deals two weeks prior?
10:21 am on April 15th, 2010
Great article, this is what this site is all about.
Well, that and the beautiful babes with great bodies and large t!ts!!
10:59 am on April 15th, 2010
So Phil switches clubs, which causes Tiger to play like shit? Interesting.
2:41 pm on April 15th, 2010
let me see if I got this straight.. Titleist was paying him
4m. per year with 16 mos left, so lets call it an even 6 m. Cal. offers 80 mil. WTF! Brooks ?, Do you have to go garbage hunting instead of using a little math.
The Guy just won the masters for the third time…
Give a little credit where it is due.
Tiger and David Duval should not give interviews any more… They are both horrible.., Geez!!! Tiger congratulate the winner and admit you need to do a little more work and move on will you..
Everyone at one time or another has cussed on the course, Take the GD microphones away if it bothers you that much..
2:41 pm on April 15th, 2010
You mean to tell me that if someone offered you $74 million dollars more to change clubs before the Ryder Cup, you would not do it? Seriously? The Ryder Cup is a torunament. Is Hal Sutton planning on paying for Phil’s kids to go to college? Or for his mortgage? Even if he did need the money for gambling debts, who cares? Who here has not used money they have earned to pay for things they probably wished they did not have to? And to equate the Ryder Cup to patriotism is ludicris. The man has a right to earn and spend his money however he wants. And the real patriots are the men and women who put on uniforms, not Ryder Cup golf shirts. Give me a break.
3:07 pm on April 15th, 2010
Haven’t you ever heard of the golf term blame the player not the clubs? You’re an idiot just looking for something to get noticed.
3:13 pm on April 15th, 2010
OMG….I haven’t seen a fishing story so devoid of of content and substance in a LONG time! What trash! It’s third party conjecture and innuendo. Whoever penned this story should be beaten with a shoe for being a moron. If pro golfers of Phil’s caliber can’t pick up a club and make it work after all of the fitting, technical support and baby sitting that they get from the factory, then maybe they aren’t really all that good after all. It’s like saying Payton Manning can’t throw touchdowns with different footballs. I’m mad that I got sucked into writing about this.
3:39 pm on April 15th, 2010
I think you guys should lay off all the personal stuff, who cares if he gambles or doesn’t gamble and the same with Tiger. It’s their lives they can live it the way they want. I love watching Tiger play and like to see emotion, it is what makes him good for golf. I am tired of the stuffy old golfers who nobody watched until Tiger came along. Without him it is dull and boring, and I hope some of these young players take the stuffiness out of golf too. He has made more money for the game than anyone, Phil looked really good this weekend, let him enjoy it.
3:45 pm on April 15th, 2010
Another scumbag reporter . . . Perhaps Phil entered into the contract with Callaway because it was the opportune time to get endorsements. He had just won the Masters after having gone through years of close calls at winning a major (and ridiculous media scrutiny from bums like you suggesting he never would). Plus, the idea of putting a loss in the Ryder cup on one player is pathetic, particularly with such a large loss. But then again, I’m use to listening to this trash from guys who can’t hit a driver more than 150 yards. You write trash because you need to survive. It puts into perspective who really does (and does not) have character.
3:52 pm on April 15th, 2010
Hello Phil, this is tiger.
I need a favor. Can I switch places with you?
Huge…bye…
6:10 pm on April 15th, 2010
You have got to be kidding me. Phil was your best player never to win a major for years, Now he is on a little roll and you have to dig for something to make him look bad because of Tigers problems. Boo on you! We all know that if Tigers dad was still alive he NEVER would have done what he did. Once his father pssed on there was nobody to keep him in line. Now you want to badger Phil about stuff that may or may not have happened 6 years ago? How about us talking all the writers that cheated on their college tests? Just let them play golf!!!!!!
6:22 pm on April 15th, 2010
I am ashamed to be a golfer when the likes of leeches are trying
to belittle a good man,just because they are servile to a spoilt
brat named Tiger.I played in the Eisenhour Cup in 1960 at Merion,when the USA WAS REPRESENTED BY 4 COMPETITORS WHO WERE REAL GENTLEMEN.Those were
the days.
Marwan Hassan Djeddaoui.Egypt.
7:20 pm on April 15th, 2010
Who gives a rats ass! Tell me about your skeletons. That would interest me.
7:29 pm on April 15th, 2010
hahahahahahahaha…………………….damn this is news??
Anybody who follows golf knows Phil is a gambler on the course and off…………………so my guess is that either you don’t follow golf or have a different agenda…..parasitic chucklehead you are
8:19 pm on April 15th, 2010
So he struck while the iron was hot and made $80 million. Now, who wouldn’t? He would have been a fool not to.
8:40 pm on April 15th, 2010
all the references to Phil’s book and we could not get any of the referenced excerpts? Seems like that would have been nice.
9:02 pm on April 15th, 2010
Brooksie, the patriot thing was a bit of a reach. Tiger Woods and the others poor performance would not have been caused by Mickleson’s change of club manufacturers. Also, if you made, say….4 million for operating this site and Scripps-Howard offered you 80 million to run theirs, then what would you do? Don’t say you would turn them down either……..
11:22 pm on April 15th, 2010
Perez Brooks is looking crazy stupid now that the alleged ‘Ohio incident’ has been blown out of the water. Pathetic attempt for attention for his failing site. The comments are only redeeming part of this site.
2:31 am on April 16th, 2010
I hope you are embarrassed for writing this article and might want to check into REHAB for crack,booze or what ever your on, then your readers will have a reason to give you a second chance. I stumbeld onto this article while trying to catch up on sports scores and standings and thought this should be good, Phil must have gone out for a Masters celebration(this years Masters) and lost the whole purse he just won. I couldn’t stop reading because I figured at some point you would prove it and that it was so bad and nasty that there was a reason to slam Phil and twist 2004 Ryder cup into a conspiracy theory that his bad play was in anyway intentional or GAMBLING related. Im not a Phil Fan,but he is # 1 right now and made this a great Masters to watch. After reading this, the first thing that came to mind was that this was personal and you were trying to punish Phil for not giving you an interview, screwing your girl in college, or that you lost your shirt to him in a poker game one night and don’t or can’t pay him. This is close to slander with as little as you really know. I hope you find a real story..
9:02 am on April 16th, 2010
first time reader,last time reader,you are full of s— latch onto tigers sack and suck….
9:21 am on April 16th, 2010
Let’s get serious folks. Which lady golfer has the nicest butt??
9:42 am on April 16th, 2010
What drivel you write and certainly not worthy of reading.
“But Lefty won’t let me” You are a sanctimonious twit. One day Karma will bite you and it won’t be too soon
10:45 am on April 16th, 2010
Classless timing to run such a far-fetched article with out-dated and weak rumors.
What’s the agenda to bring up hen-house, hater hearsay after one of the greatest Masters wins ever?
Pathetic.
8:21 pm on April 18th, 2010
i’m just checking out this blog for the first time…i’m all for reporting unpopular topics, but this is doesn’t even come close to journalism…its a assumptions, rumor and innuendo thrown together to justify a strained attempt to rip someone in the absence of any credible information…this guy is a clown