It's no wonder Phil Mickelson has been hiding in Dagobah. The second-biggest name in golf, who has taken a self-imposed hiatus since his comments on working with a Saudi-backed golf league went viral for all the wrong reasons, is getting unauthorized biography treatment from Alan Shipnuck, the former golf reporter who broke the Saudi.
An excerpt from his upcoming book was released. The biography of golf's most colorful star says Lefty lost $40 million over four years gambling and expenses could have been in the red. He goes on to say that a spat with a caddie over back pay was one of the reasons why he wanted to join the Saudi golf league.
Here's a sample:
In those prime earning years, his income was estimated to be around 40 million dollars a year. He was left with, what, low-20s, after he paid his taxes, despite the obscene amount of money. He had to cover his plane, mansion, agent, caddie, pilots, chef, personal trainer, swing coaches, and so on.
Throw in all the other expenses of a big life, like an actual T.Rex skull, and you have $10 million. It's roughly how much the golfer averaged in gambling losses each year. We don't know what we don't know. It is quite possible that he was barely breaking even or even in the red. During his winless years from 2014 to 2015, Mickelson's income dropped considerably.
I have always thought of Phil as a real life shooter. He is the kind of guy who would ask a PR person to get him a drink. I didn't understand the fascination with him. He overcame a history of gagging in majors and people adore him. I will never know how New Yorkers fell in love with him. One of my favorite pastimes is watching Mickelson collapse, a tradition unlike any other, until he finally won, and my birthday usually falls on one of the days of the Masters.
I can't shake the idea that this will make him a more sympathetic figure to his fans and supporters, like Gary Player. Everyone can relate to a tough run at the blackjack tables, and fans will look for any excuse to forgive their favorite player. Throw in the fact that it came out because of an analysis that sounds like an audit on steroids, and you have a recipe for disaster.
I don't think that's the case because my co-worker Grace and I have been writing about Lefty's turn from the jump, so we know that the government was looking into Phil.
Is there a difference between a professional gambler and a bad guy like Adam Sandler from Uncut Gems? I don't know what Happy Gilmore scene would be funnier to parody with Phil, either: Shooter complaining to the tour commissioner about Happy/Alan Shupnick, or Phil meeting up with a shady lunatic to fix a match. He had no intention of going to Sizzler with those women.
Even though he averted any wrongdoing in the case, the fact that he enjoyed an occasional wager or 30 is worse. Caping for the younger players to get a bigger slice of the earnings appears to be disingenuous. Did he ever care about the men, or was he using their plight as a way to pay off the bookies? I think Jake Paul's concern for his sport was more likely to be bullshit than Phil's.
The question I want Shipnuck to answer is, "Is the same reaction when he catches a bad beat as it is when he hits a drive into the woods?" You know what I'm talking about. He squints for a second or two too long to see if it's really as bad as he thought, and then when he realized he was hitting his next shot off of the fat foot, his head dropped to the ground.
I liked the fact that Lefty bought himself a T.Rex skull for his birthday. If we've learned anything about celebrities, it's that they buy dinosaur bones to decorate their mansions, like Nicolas Cage did to pay off his debt. The Saudis don't kill journalists, they just kill aging action movie stars.
If he is considering a career change, maybe Christopher McDonald, the guy who played Shooter, can give him some acting lessons.
I have a tight five on Phil. After the book drops later this month, check back for the full routine.
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