For the Mikelson bashers:

Sure, credit goes to Mickelson for helping out the Dobler family. For every Mickelson story, I'm sure there tens of other professional athletes who are moved by someone's pain, and subsequently donate to the person in need or to a cause. I'm sure all of us are familiar with what Daly did with daughters of the man who was struck by lightning at the 1991 PGA Championship. This, IMHO was a more noble gesture, given that JD was a nobody, had nothing, yet he was committing $30K to them even though it was 13% of his paycheck ( http://thesandtrap.com/columns/profiles/john_daly/) . Similar to Phil and JD, there must be other PGA pros doing these acts of charity that we are unaware of...sure I dislike Phil, but it's more because of the way he acts and his condescension. He has talent, don't get me wrong, but I do take a little extra pleasure when he chokes. I can't help it - Phil brings out the worst in me

The Dobler story is emblematic of the poor job the NFL has done with it's players pre-1977. Taken from ESPN.com's Page 2 ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...hruby/070212):

TROUBLE IN PARADISE?

Is the NFL too big for its own good? Is it ignoring the health of its former players? Are sick of the Super Bowl hype and the mediocre product on the field? Vote now on these issues at SportsNation.

You've got Hall of Fame safety Willie Wood, crippled from a series of back, hip and knees surgeries, scraping by at a Washington, D.C., assisted-living center on a league pension that totals about $130 per month. You've got former Buffalo Bills lineman Donnie Green -- one of the human earthmovers who helped make daylight for O.J. Simpson -- reportedly living in a homeless shelter. You've got uber-tough, uber-nasty former Pro Bowl lineman Conrad Dobler, telling HBO's "Real Sports" that his post-playing aches and ailments are so painful, he might have to "check out" entirely -- because, as he puts it, "They shoot horses, don't they?"

So what are football's contemporary powers-that-be doing for the aging, broken-down, cash-strapped gladiators that helped create the sports world's biggest cash cow? Not bloody much. The league claims it pays out $60 million annually in pensions and post-career disability benefits, according to a recent AP story. Thanks to long-ago legal squabbles, most of it goes to players who retired after 1977. Meanwhile, union boss Gene Upshaw said during Super Bowl week that taking care of the pre-1977 group -- guys he played with -- isn't financially feasible, and union president Troy Vincent dismissively complained to reporters that elderly former players won't stop pestering their successors for money. Never mind that the old guard built the league on their fused vertebrae and worn-out hips, and that the house they raised makes billions of dollars. Billions!

We fling the word "disgrace" around in sports almost as recklessly as we fling around the word "great," but this really is a disgrace. And we're sure we're not the only ones in the world truly made queasy by the whole thing. For chrissakes, Jerry Kramer, Mike Ditka and others are selling off their championship rings and assorted memorabilia to raise money for their needy comrades. The gilded-age NFL can't spare another dime? Whatever happened to "no one left behind"?

Sorry for the NFL diversion, but I'm a big football fan.

Actually I am a Tiger fan - at least Tiger's emotions

Are we talking about the same guy? Sometimes Phil's face shows so much distress and disappointment it's painful to watch. He's one of the most expressive guys on tour. Yes, sometimes he probably does smile to cover the pain - it's very human you know. Never done it yourself? I saw some guy really bash the fairway with his club on Saturday at Torrey, and I mean well AFTER hitting the shot - in pure frustration. Now admittedly he was about 12 over for the day but man was that a sorry sight for a pro.

Well said brother. That really does sum up a lot of it right there. He's incredibly rich and incredibly lucky to be doing what he loves to do for a living, I'd be smiling that goofy grin 24/7 if that were me.

You could pretty much insert Tiger here with his fake tears at the British Open or his fake smile when he anounced their upcoming child. To try and imply someone's emotions are fake is nothing short of claiming to be a mind reader.

You know he is not happy about a bad tee shot or a missed putt but he smiles anyway. Big deal, I guess for some people (losers) that is real a headliner. I read a golf book or story, where a player would say to themselves "that was interesting"; instead of beating their clubs into the ground or cussing at themselves after every bad shot. That is how I see Phil. He does not throw a "sissy hissy" like other guys when things start going south I admire that a lot.