O.T. Phil Mickelson on International Politics and Human Rights

[Daryl David]

While most of the golf world seems offended, I imagine Patrick Reed is overjoyed at these developments.

Kind of like the old golf saying adjusted. “Every tweet makes someone happy”

[John Kavanaugh]

Doubt Phil is on Norman's Christmas list....

The least Greg Norman could do is send the Mickelson family a Christmas card…no doubt featuring a photo of a partially clothed Shark walking his dog on the beach.

You always bring it back to the Dick.

[BHoover]

Doubt Phil is on Norman's Christmas list....

The least Greg Norman could do is send the Mickelson family a Christmas card…no doubt featuring a photo of a partially clothed Shark walking his dog on the beach.

You always bring it back to the Dick.

Keep drinking. How are you stocked for the weekend. It’s already Thursday and I’m worried you already may have put a dent in your weekend supply of booze. Better go buy more.

[ward peyronnin]

This latest move by FIGJAM resurrected my opinion of him as a self absorbed mercenary sportsman generated in the lead up to the Oakland Hills Ryder Cup Hal Sutton captained.
I believed then, as i do now now, that PM's switch to new equipment mere days before the event contributed to the US teams rout. There is no way he could adjust his game in time and this was so patently a money grab over the best interest of the team. Definitely not a team building move

As they say do you see a pattern here?

[Thomas Dai]

Wonder which pros agents have been on the phone in the last few days offering their client as a suitable replacement golfer to wear a KPMG hat? Shock, horror, competitive world.
Atb

[David Bowen]

More apt, which companies are on the phone to Phil's agent seeking space on his hat and shirt on the day he returns?

[Rob Marshall]

More apt, which companies are on the phone to Phil's agent seeking space on his hat and shirt on the day he returns?

After calling them MFers I doubt it will be Saudi Air...

[Kalen Braley]

  in regard to the wise stewards at the PGA, let us not forget the $40,000,000 PIP program in 2021 and Phil's twitter...

I’d like to thank all the crazies (and real supporters too) for………………… Helping me win the PiP!! To get the 2nd half of the money I have to add an event I haven’t played in awhile. See you in Kapalua P.S. I’ll try and find another hot controversial topic soon

9:44 AM · Dec 29, 2021

Steve,

I think this is most interesting sub-topic on this thread.  Given Phil has dominated basically every news cycle on every imaginable online platform this year, he's gotta be way out front to collect the top prize for 2022 as well.

Perhaps Phil was just chasing money, but either way if he does win it for 2022, the irony would be off the charts....

[JESII]

Kalen...it's clearly meant (and likely defined as) positive recognition.

[Steve Lang]

   Kalen,


I couldn't resist, as I remembered that PM quote... I guess he found something!  The PIP after all is built on 5 objective criteria per the PGA:


1. Google searches: How many times a player’s name is searched for. Players will only receive credit for searches related to them, so Adam Scott won’t benefit simply from having the same name as the actor.

2.  Meltwater mentions: Tracks how often a player is mentioned across global media

3. MVP Index: A measure of a player’s reach on social media

4. Nielsen score: How often a player is featured on the television broadcast

5. Q-Score: A decades-old measure of an entity’s familiarity and appeal

[/size]Notably, none of the five criteria are directly related to a player’s on-course performance—although an in-form player will certainly be featured more often on broadcasts and in Google searches.

JIm is probably right and the PGA will likely nullify PM's stats as part of his suspension of being sent to the chair facing the room corner  to have a time out.

I'm almost surprised that one of the pros didn't walk out the door at their meeting with Monahan... now that would have been some PIP fodder!

[Kalen Braley]

Steve,

Agreed, guessing there is fine print, but it would be amusing to say the least.

P.S.  I'd be curious how BDC and Brooks finished last year, given the vast majority of their online traffic was ongoing squabbles and ensuing Grudge Match.  While the PIP may be based in good intentions, it sure seems like its having more than a few unintended consequences.

[Steve Salmen]

.

[Kevin_Reilly]

This is another example of exercising First Amendment rights and getting cancelled. Par for the course.

Steve, please explain how the First Amendment applies in this situation.  Thanks.

[Kalen Braley]

This is another example of exercising First Amendment rights and getting cancelled. Par for the course.

Steve, please explain how the First Amendment applies in this situation.  Thanks.

Phil certainly had his First Amendment right to say what he felt, but his sponsors also retained their rights to do business with him...or not...via their mutually agreed upon contract.

[PThomas]

This is another example of exercising First Amendment rights and getting cancelled. Par for the course.

Steve, please explain how the First Amendment applies in this situation.  Thanks.

Phil certainly had his First Amendment right to say what he felt, but his sponsors also retained their rights to do business with him...or not...via their mutually agreed upon contract.

exactly right Kalen....some people bitch about "cancel culture", when it's simply people responding to others as is they're right

[Steve Lang]

   So the take-away question is, will Alan Shipnuck's book on Phil be a hit or miss or foul ball.  After all, he's now wondering why companies are abandoning PM ( https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/im-surprised-all-these-companies-are-fleeing-phil-shipnuck) . 


The timing of his release of these "excerpts" certainly was calculated...   seems AS may be amongst the scary ones going forward to be dealt with.

[Steve Lapper]

  So the take-away question is, will Alan Shipnuck's book on Phil be a hit or miss or foul ball.  After all, he's now wondering why companies are abandoning PM ( https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/im-surprised-all-these-companies-are-fleeing-phil-shipnuck) . 


The timing of his release of these "excerpts" certainly was calculated...   seems AS may be amongst the scary ones going forward to be dealt with.

  I count Alan as a good friend.  He's long been a respected golf scribe and has been open about working on this book for over two years, and it actually went to the editors months ago. All of this was done without the explicit approval of Phil (who didn't want to cooperate for quite a long time). Phil's known of it's doing since its inception as well.


  Being a curious and persistent golf journalist, Alan contacted Phil after the story broke about the Saudi League's "signing several PGA Tour players." If you recall, Phil had already spoken up (albeit misinformed) about the Tour's "ownership of player's media & video rights." Only after this did Phil then call Alan and fully volunteer his proactive involvement with Greg Norman in trying to "write the leagues rules." He was "proud" to reveal his effort to "turn the leverage back onto the Tour!" In effect, he'd elevated himself to a role no one had elected him to represent.

  Who knows if the book will be a "hit or a miss or foul ball, " but it certainly won't hurt sales of the it.

[Jim_Coleman]

  I’ll read it

[Mike_Trenham]

  I’ll read it

I’ve preordered it.

[Peter Flory]

I don't like the concept of the unauthorized biography of a living person.  It seems really invasive and bound to get things wrong- and it becomes part of the record that people take as gospel.  It feels like literary paparazzi and anything negative puts the subject in the position where they get hounded about it and have to answer to it.  i.e. it changes their life.

[John Kavanaugh]

I don't like the concept of the unauthorized biography of a living person.  It seems really invasive and bound to get things wrong- and it becomes part of the record that people take as gospel.  It feels like literary paparazzi and anything negative puts the subject in the position where they get hounded about it and have to answer to it.  i.e. it changes their life.

Good for you. Gossip is like sex. Losers pay for it.

[Steve Lapper]

I don't like the concept of the unauthorized biography of a living person.  It seems really invasive and bound to get things wrong- and it becomes part of the record that people take as gospel.  It feels like literary paparazzi and anything negative puts the subject in the position where they get hounded about it and have to answer to it.  i.e. it changes their life.

Peter,


   Your opinion is a very reasonable one, however there are understandable reasons for why authors pursue, albeit unauthorized, living subjects. All too often the public interest in the lives of a wide spectrum of interesting people is quite strong and for positive reasons. From sportspeople through to Supreme Court justices, our world is full of very inspirational stories that captivate and encourage readers to follow similar paths and/or learn from their life stories. Both a literary and figurative connection can be made between the reader and subject that doesn't always have the same allure post-mortem. Authorization isn't always available (think SCOTUS) nor feasible (a fascinating CEO whose Board doesn't desire it).


   Unfortunately in today's information age, controversial subjects attract and often generate even more controversy and ultimately our media system act like moths attracted to a flame. John may be right, yet as usual, uses the wrong metaphor. Substitute "marketing" for sex.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I don't like the concept of the unauthorized biography of a living person.

Are you also against all news articles that are unauthorized? Because this isn't all that different. More below.

It seems really invasive and bound to get things wrong- and it becomes part of the record that people take as gospel.

Alan is a reporter, and here's where things are things are the same as the news stuff above: they still have to get sources. They still have to verify things, or report who said what. If Billy Walters is quoted as saying "Phil did this" and Phil didn't do that, his issue isn't with Alan, it's with Billy. And Alan likely also double- or triple-sourced that, even though the one hardest hitting quote might come from Billy. (Or whatever.)

It feels like literary paparazzi and anything negative puts the subject in the position where they get hounded about it and have to answer to it.  i.e. it changes their life.

Phil's life is already "changed" because he's a public figure. He's not exactly shied away from publicity.

And Alan asked Phil to be involved repeatedly. Phil, until he called, chose not to be involved. That's a choice he made.

Did you object to the Tiger biography from the investigative reporters. I did, but only after the fact because the book got many basic facts wrong, and because I've grown up in the Tiger era, I didn't learn much new. That won't be the case with the Phil book, from what I hear. But I had no issue with them writing it. I only wish it had been better.

[Jim_Coleman]

   Not liking the concept of “unauthorized biographies” seems odd to me. Publishing only what living persons want you to hear seems authoritarian to me.  Freedom of the press exists in the Constitution because the press is pretty much all that stand’s between democracy and autocracy. That’s why the press is the only occupation protected in the Constitution. The statement the the press is “the enemy of the people” is pretty much as authoritarian as one can get.
  Sorry for the liberal high horse tone of this and it’s way off topic content, but I believe freedom of the press is a very much misunderstood constitutional right.

[A.G._Crockett]

I can't imagine that an authorized biography, or an autobiography for that matter, of Phil Mickelson would be of much interest; good or bad, I don't think there is much disagreement about his ability and willingness to present a sanitized public image. His widely known propensity for gambling alone would sort of guarantee that. 

I love to read, but I rarely read a biography of any type, and when I do, it is likely to be a "historical" figure; authors of those have the advantage of perspective AND of not worrying that the subject will be offended or litigious.  But if I was going to read about Phil Mickelson, I can't imagine that anything other than an "unauthorized" version of his life would have any real value.

I read a story earlier this morning in which Shipnuck says that not only did Mickelson call him, rather than the other way around, and then provided the quotes about the Saudi league that have proven to be Phil's undoing, but that at NO time was there a request, much less an agreement, for the conversation to be off the record. 

It is one of my core beliefs that as we age, we are likely to become a more extreme version of whatever we are, rather than moderate our habits and tendencies.  Mickelson seems to have always believed that he is the smartest guy in the room, and this time, it has done him in.  The Saudis aren't to blame for that, nor is Shipnuck, nor is the Tour.  Just Phil...